Not what she wants
by bri617
Summary: What if Shawn and Juliet team up to catch a serial killer and find themselves forced to sleep in the same motel room?   What if Shawn overhears her saying he is not someone she'd ever like to date?  What if he changes his ways and leaves SB again? Shules!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! So here it is my first Psych fanfic. I hope you guys like it.**

**IMPORTANT: Spoilers up until the summer season finale! But please note that I changed the outcome of the episode a little. The kiss between Shawn and Juliet never happend! Juliet went on the trip with Declan and is still dating him at the beginning of my story (don't worry it won't last long).**

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended!**

**I'll post the first three chapters to catch up with my updating on ;)**

_**Chapter 1**_

It was just another normal Monday morning at the SBPD headquarters when head Detective Carlton Lassiter's phone went off.

"Lassiter." He answered grumpily. A high-pitched female voice started screaming at him.

"Ma'am, please stay calm and tell me exactly what happened." He listened intently while scribbling down some notes on a sheet of paper. Meanwhile Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara stepped closer to his desk after observing the scene for a second.

"Mrs. Dubenham, don't touch anything! We'll be there in a few minutes." With that he hang up looking a little paler as usual.

"What's wrong, Carlton?" asked Juliet.

"That was my next door neighbour Mrs Dubenham. She found her dead husband just a few minutes ago. Apparently he was murdered. Let's go, O'Hara, we've got work to do."

_Well this really shook him up. There must be something else that he didn't tell me about. _Juliet was deep in thought as she walked to Lassiter's car.

"Should we call Shawn and Gus to help us?" she suggested.

"What? No, of course not! I don't need that pseudo wannabe psychic to solve a case. Why are you so keen on him lately? You asked him to help with the last three cases before we even tried to solve it on our own. That just makes it look like the police can't handle cases on their own anymore. So a definite NO to your question!" he barked at her.

Taken slightly aback by the harsh way of the head detective Juliet remained silent for the rest of the car drive. Why was he going off on her like that? Yeah, sure she called Shawn and Gus in more often lately, but they really did help to solve their cases faster.

They arrived in a nice neighbourhood and came to a halt in front of a small house. An elderly woman came rushing out of the door as soon as the two detectives stepped out of the car.

"Oh, Carlton, thank God you are here! It's so awful. Blood everywhere… and my dear Peter lying there. This is all too much for me." With a sigh she gripped her heart and slowly went down. Lassiter took a quick step forward and caught her before she connected with the sidewalk.

"O'Hara, call an ambulance. Now! She might have a heart attack."

The ambulance arrived a few minutes after Juliet made the call and the EMTs took Mrs Dubenham back to the hospital. Just as the two detectives walked up to the house they heard a familiar voice behind them.

"Lassie, Juliet. What a coincidence." said Shawn Spencer "What are you guys doing here? Having a tea party at Lassie's house?"

Shawn and Gus were both wearing shorts and t-shirts apparently going for a jog.

An annoyed groan escaped Lassiter's mouth. Why did they have to come by at this exact time? And how on earth could Spencer possibly know his address?

"No, we're not having a tea party, Spencer. And now go away." He answered grumpily.

"Why so grumpy, Lassie-face? We were just on our morning run when we saw your car and thought we'd stop by and say good morning. Sooo, good morning Lassie and an even better morning to you, Jules." He winked playfully at her.

"Morning, Shawn." She smiled at him.

"Well, if you're not here for the tea party, what brought you two out here?" Gus asked the two detectives and then facing Shawn "Damn, I would love a nice cup of tea and some cookies right now."

Earning an agreeing nod from Shawn and a disapproving grumble from the head detective.

"That's none of your business. Now continue your jog, you sure as hell need it."

The two men gasped. "What? We need it? Just so you know Gus here worked as a professional model so we won't take your comment as an insult but rather as a jealous remark." Shawn said bumping fists with Gus.

"Actually I meant that _you_ need it, Spencer. But that's subsidiary. Just get out of our way and let us do our work." He barked at him.

Looking truly offended now Shawn returned "Subsid-what? Ugh, whatever. So you don't want our help on this case, huh? Oh wait, I'm getting something." He moved two fingers of his right hand to his temple and closed his eyes. "Strawberries… heart… red roses… red … that's it. I see blood... blood is everywhere. Murder. Someone was murdered right here in this house." He took a deep breath while pointing at Mrs Dubenham's house with his left hand.

"Well, Carlton, you have to say that that was impressive. They could be a real help. Let them take a quick look at the crime scene. Maybe Shawn can pick up something." Juliet suggested.

Lassiter looked at her like she just said he should wear a dress once in a while. There's no way he would let those two snoop around his crime scene with his actual approval. But still… Shawn's vision bothered him. Red roses? That couldn't be right. Just a wild guess probably. Or could it actually mean that…? No, he answered his own question firmly. But maybe he should keep the psychic around and let him take a look later just to be on the safe side.

"Alright, Spencer, Guster, you two stay out here until I say differently. Understood?"

They both nodded and Lassiter spun in his wheels and walked up to the house with Juliet following right behind him.

"Nice 'vision' you just had. But seriously, strawberries and red roses?" Gus laughed at his friend.

"Yeah I know. But I couldn't think of something else and I had to get to blood somehow." He responded with a sly smile on his face.

"So I assume you won't tell them that we followed Lassie's car and hid in those bushes over there and listened to every word the old woman said before she fainted and that we just pretended to jog by to have an excuse to be in the area?" Gus asked his best friend.

"What? Of course I'm gonna tell them the truth… right after I propose to Lassie. Dude seriously that would totally kill my performance I just put up there." Shawn countered laughingly.

**Meanwhile in the house…**

Lassiter and Juliet entered the kitchen and what they found made them both gasp. There was a huge blood stain on the floor with a blood covered knife lying in the middle of it. There were bloody sander marks leading from the kitchen door to the next room as if the body was dragged over there. As the two detectives followed the blood trail they walked into the living room leaving the two breathless. The blood trail had vanished abruptly as if someone had cleaned it up. On the couch Peter Dubenham's dead body was lying, his hands put together on his chest holding on to a single red rose. There were no visible signs of blood or any fight for that matter. He looked almost peaceful and like he was just sleeping. But that wasn't the case both of the detectives knew that.

Lassiter was paler than usual his hands slightly shaking. _He _was back. But why? Why now? Why here? He's never come back to one place before.

"Carlton, are you okay? You know I could take over with you knowing the victim and stuff…" Juliet threw in pulling him out of his thoughts not quite understanding her partner's flustered look.

"What? No, it's okay, O'Hara. I just… I know who did this." He answered calmly.

"You _know_ who did this? We haven't even been here for five minutes and you already solved the case?" The junior detective asked bewildered.

"I wouldn't call it solving the case. It… it's a serial killer. Have you ever heard of the Rose Murderer?" Lassiter asked finally regaining his composure.

"Rose Murderer? Uh, I don't think so. Maybe we talked about him in the Academy but I'm not sure. Fill me in?" Asked a curious Juliet.

"The Rose Murderer has killed twenty people, none of which we could link in any way to each other. His MO is always the same. He kills his victims with exactly five stabs in the back using a kitchen knife that he took from their kitchens. He drags the bodies to another room afterwards, laying them on a couch or a bed positioning them just like in this case with their hands holding on to a red rose on their chests. Then he cleans up the sander marks in the room the body lies in, letting it appear is if the victim was sleeping on the first sight. He has never left so much as a shoe print, not a single fingerprint, not even a hair. This guy is basically a ghost. He has killed in 20 states and we could never get a hold on him. There is just no evidence and no witnesses. This guy has been murdering people for the past 10 years without us coming close to him once." Lassiter answered in low voice his words drenched with hatred and repulsion.

"And what is your connection to him? Did you investigate the crimes?"

"Yes, I was part of a special team focusing on the Rose Murderer after we found a dead body right here in Santa Barbara five years ago. We tried everything to find him but never had any luck. And then the murders just stopped. No body was found looking like this for exactly five years now. And what's really weird is that he never killed in the same city before not even in the same state for that matter. So the question is why he suddenly changed his ways and why he began killing again in the first place…" His voiced trailed off deep in thought again.

"Well, I'm gonna call this in with the department and tell them to send over a forensics team to process everything. Maybe we'll get lucky and they find something. After all if the murderer changed his MO maybe he made a mistake. Or maybe this isn't the Rose Murderer at all and we're just dealing with a copy cat." Juliet suggested. "How about we'll have Shawn and Gus take a look?"

"They won't find anything. This isn't a copy cat, it's the Rose Murderer. I know it. And I'm going to catch that son of a bitch this time! Don't let those two morons touch anything. I'm visiting Mrs. Dubenham in the hospital. We'll meet back at the station." With that he stormed off.

_What a great way to start the week, now I'll have to deal with grumpy Lassie- uh Lassiter…damnit Shawn is rubbing off on me- for the next week or even longer. Just great. _Juliet thought while dialing the Chief's number.

After talking to her and filling her quickly in on the details she was now waiting for the forensics team. _I might as well get the guys to take a look_.

Just as she was about to walk to the front door she heard a noise from the kitchen. Drawing her gun out of the holster she slowly made her way to the kitchen door. Taking a deep breath she entered the kitchen pointing her gun at the intruders.

"Whoah, Jules, put the gun down, it's just Gus and me." Shawn said looking up at the blonde detective.

_Damn, girl. This whole cop thin__g with the gun and cuffs makes you look even sexier. _He thought to himself making a small smile appear on his face along with a nearly invisible blush.

"What are you doing in here? Carlton told you to wait outside, didn't he?" Juliet was barking at them slowly coming down from her adrenaline rush after thinking there might be someone dangerous in the house. Looking at Shawn who was sitting on the kitchen counter with his feet dangling in the air while Gus was standing as far away from the blood stain as possibly

"Yeah, well he did, but when do we ever listen to him." Shawn countered, bumping fists with Gus again (who looked a little pale which was totally understandable in a room with a huge blood stain covering the floor) while winking at Jules who couldn't help but smile at his gesture.

"Sorry, guys but I think the Super-Sniffer needs a time out. I'll be outside for a few minutes." Gus stated obviously trying to not breathe through his nose. Shawn chuckled at that and bit into a cookie.

"Uh, Shawn, what exactly do you think you're doing?" Juliet inquired looking from Shawn's face to the cookie in his hand and back.

"Eating a cookie? You know Jules as a detective you should've recognized that yourself. You want one, too?" he offered while holding out the box of cookies.

"What? Shawn, seriously, there is a dead body in the next room and you're _eating_?"

"Yeah I know it's a little weird, but you see the whole talk about tea party and cookies made me kind of hungry and then I saw this box and just…OWW" His explanation was interrupted when Juliet walked up to him and pinched his arm.

"You'll come with me to see the body. Now! And you'll put the box back where you found it." She was grabbing his hand and pulled him off the counter giving him no time to react or protest in any way.

But Jules… You just… You pinched me. That's an assault. I could sue you." He whined while being dragged to the living room. Juliet turned around and just glared at him. "Or I could just let it slide this one time. Whatever you want, Jules." He mumbled obviously a little intimidated by the blonde's reaction.

They entered the living room and stopped right in front of the couch. It took Juliet a few seconds to realize that she was still holding Shawn's hand. _Wow, I never thought his hands would be this soft yet strong at the same time. It's kind of nice holding it but I don't wanna creep him out by holding onto it longer than necessary._ So she slowly let her hand slip out of his instantly missing the warmth on her fingers. _Focus, Juliet. You have a case to solve._ She reminded herself.

"Uh, Jules, you sure this guy is dead? He looks like he's sleeping." Shawn wondered.

Juliet sighed. "Yes, Shawn, he's dead. No pulse, no breathing and the amount of blood in the kitchen are pretty solid indicators for that, don't you think? But shouldn't you be getting some kind of vibe or anything from him or some kind of call from the spirits telling you he's dead? You're a psychic after all." She looked at him and raised her eye brows.

"Well… uh yeah… I should be getting something… I… uh…" Before he could say anything else he was interrupted by Gus coming in followed by the forensics team.

_Gus definitely never had a better timing than right know. Thank God, he came in. I don't know what I should've told Jules. _A visibly relieved Shawn thought.

He scanned the room trying to find anything useful but was unsuccessful.

"So Jules, I think we're pretty much done here, I'll have to get back to the office to try to put my visions in the correct order and sort some things out. Everything is kind of foggy right now. We'll get back to you as soon as we have any hints, alright? Okay, well, bye." Shawn quickly said and pulled Gus out of the door with him leaving behind a slightly confused Juliet.

**A/N: Any kinds of comments and suggestions are very welcome as I think that they can only help me to improve my writing. Feel free to review. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

**Back in the Psych office…**

"So what's the plan?" Gus asked his best friend opening the office's door.

"The plan is… I don't know, man… I can't think. I'm so close to starvation I haven't had anything to eat for like half an hour and it's nearly noon we should really grab some lunch. What do you think? Chinese?"

"You know that's right" Gus said while turning on his heels and closing the door again.

On their walk back from the Chinese restaurant (thankfully it was only 200 yards away) they started talking about the case.

"So… the Rose Murderer. Ever heard anything about him?" Gus asked.

"Nope, well just the stuff we heard this morning while eavesdropping on Lassie and Jules but other than that nothing. That guy is pretty creepy, don't you think?"

"Shawn, he's a serial killer apparently with OCD, of course he's creepy." He stated in duh voice.

"You know what I think? I mean I'm not really sure about it but I think our killer might be a woman." Shawn mused.

"Really? That's absolutely not what all the _professional_ FBI profilers said and why do… oh hey Juliet, what are you doing here? If you had said that you were coming over we could have brought you lunch." He smiled friendly at her and gestured her to come in after he unlocked the door.

They sat down around Gus' desk and Shawn put down three plates.

"Come on, Jules, we'll just share our food. Take whatever you want." He pointed at the food containers in front of them. "So what do we owe the pleasure of this surprise visit? You hardly come by the office lately." Inwardly wincing at his own question but not showing anything to his two friends. Of course he knew why she didn't come by that often anymore. She was probably spending every free minute with her precious boyfriend/filthy rich guy Declan Rand. Ever since that two week trip to the Amalfi Coast they were closer than ever. Their relationship going strong for five months now.

"Thanks, Shawn." She put some food on her plate and continued talking but skipping his last remark. "I'd like to officially hire you on today's case."

"What's Lassie saying about that? I bet he's thrilled." Gus laughed.

"He doesn't have a say in this. Chief Vick put me in charge. She thinks Carlton is personally too involved in this case so I'll be leading it." She smiled softly at that.

"Wow that's great for you, Jules. Your first major case. Are you excited?" Shawn smiled widely at her.

"It's a little weird, you know. Especially 'cause we still have to tell Carlton, he's still in the hospital with his neighbour. And this case doesn't really seem like something I can just solve in a few days. I mean this killer has been on the loose for 10 years now without leaving any evidence at all. Chances aren't so big that I'm going to make the big breakthrough but I'm still proud that the Chief trusts me with a major case." Her smile grew wider. "This is delicious by the way." Receiving agreeing nods from the two men they continued their meal talking about lighter topics than a serial killer.

After finishing eating their lunch they headed to the police station together to work on the case. Shortly after they sat down Lassiter came through the doors and greeted them with a nod. Juliet stood up taking a deep breath before walking over to her partner's desk.

"Carlton, how's your neighbour doing?" She asked softly.

"She'll be okay. The doctor's said it was a light heart attack as a result of all the stress she went through. But I called her children and they're on their way to the hospital so she's been taken care of. I assume you didn't find anything at the crime scene." He said trying hard not to show any signs of emotions.

"No, we found nothing. But actually the Chief wanted to talk to the both of us about the case. So we should probably head to her office."

"Alright, let's go then" With that Lassiter stood up and walked up to the Chief's office knocking on the door and entering without waiting for a response. Juliet followed him quickly.

"Detective Lassiter, I know that you're a smart man so I won't beat around the bush and be straight forward with you. I don't want you on this case. I handed over the lead to Detective O'Hara and you won't come near this case under any circumstances." Chief Vick said firmly.

Lassiter surely wasn't prepared for this. "What? Chief with all due respect… I don't understand. I've been working on this case as a part of the special team that was set up to catch this guy. I know everything about every single victim and every crime scene. Why on earth shouldn't I work on this case?" He said raising his voice with every sentence.

"Don't raise you voice against me like that! I made this decision because I think you are emotionally too involved with the whole matter, with your neighbour being the victim and everything happening so close to your home. I won't discuss this any further. You'll stay away from this case and don't even try to pressure your partner into keeping you posted!"

She told him decidedly knowing exactly that that was just what he wanted to do.

Lassiter glared at her one last time, turned on his heels and stormed out of the office.

"Well, that went well, don't you think detective?" Chief Vick turned to the young female detective. "Get back to work, O'Hara, and catch this guy."

Juliet nodded and exited the office returning to her desk where Shawn and Gus were still waiting both having chocolate bars in their hands.

"Guys, we just ate like half an hour ago…ugh… never mind." She sighed. "How about we move this to an interrogation room? I guess we could work more efficiently if we had more space."

So the three set up their office in interrogation room one displaying all the case files on the table in front of them. Arranging the crime scene photos on the wall in a way they could compare them to one another. They did the same with the photos of the victims. Gus put up a USA map marking all the sites of crime with a pin, trying to find out if there was any specific pattern the killer used.

**One week later…**

"Ugh, I can't look at this stuff anymore." Sighed Juliet, clearly exasperated. "We've been going through all this crap for a week and we haven't found _anything_. There's just nothing that could even suggest a lead."

Just as Shawn wanted to speak up Buzz McNabb stormed into the room. "Detective? The Chief needs to talk to you ASAP, she said it's urgent!"

Juliet looked at Shawn who was working the case alone with her this morning since Gus had to work his normal job. "I'll be back in a second." He nodded.

10 minutes later Juliet entered the room again looking a little paler than before.

"There's been another homicide. Seems like it's the Rose Murderer again. Chief said I should go there and take a look at the crime scene." She stated in a low voice.

"Where did it happen?" Asked Shawn.

"In… wait…" She glanced at the case file. "In Ellensburg, Washington. That's around 100 miles east of Seattle. Well, the Chief had Buzz already book a flight so I'll stay there at least two days to talk to the local authorities and potential witnesses. How about the two of you take break from the case in the meantime?"

"What? You'll be going there alone?" Shawn asked worried. Juliet nodded. "No, there's no way I'm going to let you go there alone. Tell McNabb to book a flight for me as well." He said determined.

"Shawn, as nice as that is, but …" She began but was soon interrupted by Shawn.

"No, no, Jules! I don't want to hear any 'but's'! I won't let you go there alone. Period. I'll be off this case and I won't ever help the police again. And I will never, and I mean _never _in my whole life_,_ talk to you again if you do this alone. Understood?" He was standing right in front of her by the time he ended his little speech looking directly into her eyes.

Juliet had never seen him this serious before with that amount of determination in his eyes. So the only thing she could do was nod silently looking away from him. But Shawn didn't let her do that. He cupped her face with both of his hands turning her head to face him again.

"Do you understand that, Jules?" His voice not as harsh as before but soft instead.

It took Juliet a moment to realize that their faces were only a few inches apart. She blushed a little at the thought that they were nearly as close as they were when the close talking incident happened a few years ago. _I have to do something or I don't know what will happen._ She thought begging her body to move away, praying that her cop instincts would kick in that would allow her to push Shawn away. But nothing worked. She wasn't able to move a muscle. It seemed like her body protested against her better judgement and wanted to stay like this forever. Stay so close to Shawn forever.

"Do you understand that, Jules?" She heard his oh so soft voice echoing in her ears again slowly pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah." Was all she could manage to say while her head was screaming something entirely different. _Say no, damnit, Jules, say no! You can't spend two days with him alone. Not here and definitely not in a city that you never been to before and where you don't know anyone else. Just say no!_

It was Shawn who finally after what seemed like an eternity let go of her and moved away a few feet. "Okay, now that that is settled. When do we start our little trip? Do you know what the weather is like? I bet it's freezing up there. Better go start packing, huh?" He was back to his cheery self, while Juliet was still standing at the same spot with a confused look on her face. _Okay, Jules, just try to act normal as if nothing has happened. If he can do it I can do that, too! _She told herself. "I…uh… upstairs…tell McNabb…uh…talk to you later." She stammered rushing out of the room so he couldn't see the giant blush that crept up her face.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

**Two ****and a half hours later at Los Angeles International Airport…**

"Sooo, thanks for picking me up, we definitely did something good for the environment." Shawn winked at her trying to build up some kind of conversation since they had spent the two hour car ride from Santa Barbara to L.A. pretty much in silence.

"No problem." She shot him a small smile but turned around afterwards apparently using all her concentration on the queue in front of the check-in desk.

Shawn sighed. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all but what was he supposed to do? Let her chase a devious serial killer on her own?

Half an hour and exactly ten words ("Jules, do you want a cup of coffee?" "No, thanks.") later they were seated on the plane and waited for take-off. Juliet took out a file that held general information on the cases.

"Could you hand me some of those papers?" Shawn asked trying his best not to be without anything to do next to a silent Jules for the next 3 hours.

She grabbed some sheets and handed them to him without looking up or saying a word.

Confused and slightly annoyed Shaw said. "Jules, could you tell me what the hell I did wrong? I…" But he was interrupted by the captain's announcement that they would take off in a few minutes that was followed by the safety instructions.

Two hours and zero words later Shawn nearly jumped out of his seat when he took a closer look to the list of crime scenes.

"Jules, oh my God, I got it. You won't believe this. Well, actually you will because I got it right here written black on white and you can't tell me that this just a lucky hunch we should maybe follow-" He started rambling excitedly.

"Just cut the crap and get to the point, Shawn!" Juliet urged him.

He mumbled something incoherently but pointed at the list of crime scenes. "Look at this list. The last murder that happened before the killer took his little time out was in Santa Barbara. First stop on his comeback tour?"

"Santa Barbara." Juliet whispered.

"The murder before the Santa Barbara murder took place in… you wanna take a guess?"

"Don't tell me that was in Ellensburg." She said with her eyes wide open.

"Ding ding ding… Jackpot!" Shawn smiled triumphantly.

"You do realize you have the sickest sense of humor ever, right? But still, this is a huge lead, I mean we could probably say where the next murder will take place. What does the list say about the crime scene third from last?"

"Amarillo, Oklahoma." Shawn said after looking at the list.

"Okay, we'll call Chief Vick after we landed. Maybe she could warn the local authorities that something might happen in the next few weeks.

They fell back into silence, but this time it wasn't as uncomfortable as before.

After landing in Seattle and getting their rental car they were finally on Interstate 90 heading east. Neither of them spoke during the whole car ride slowly drifting back to awkwardness Shawn made his last attempt of staring a conversation.

"So Jules how are things with Declan? You never talked about your trip to Italy." He asked in quiet voice trying to sound sincere and not bitter even though that was exactly how he felt.

Looking to her left she looked curiously at him. Where did that question come from?

"Uh, things are good and Italy was fine. Loved the weather."

"Huh, that's good…" He stopped for a lack of words. What was he supposed to say? 'I'm happy for you, go and marry that guy.' He grimaced slightly at that thought.

"I think this is our motel. Seriously, Buzz couldn't find anything better? What is this town? Psycho Ville?" He finally said pulling up in front of the first building with a sign that said 'Reception'. There was a long building following the reception with 13 doors.

"You wanna wait in the car and I'll get the room keys? No need for both of us to get wet." Shawn suggested referring to the rain that had set in about an hour ago.

"No, it's okay I'll come with you. I'm tired of sitting anyways and would like to walk a bit." She shot him a small smile.

They entered the reception building and were greeted by a young man. He guided them to the front desk and asked them what their names were.

"O'Hara and Spencer." Juliet said.

"Oh right, you're with the police right? Well, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten this room. The whole city is jammed this week. It's rodeo time." He smiled widely. "Here is your key. Your room is number 13 that's the last one in the row; you can park directly in front of it. Enjoy your stay. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me." With that he handed Shawn a key.

Shawn quickly read his name badge. "Uh wait, Karl. There must be a mistake. We actually booked two rooms."

"No, Mr. O'Hara?" He looked questionably at Shawn who chuckled at the mix up. "Mr. Spencer then. There was a request for two rooms but as you can see you are unbelievably lucky to get one room. So either take that one or try your luck somewhere else but as I told you this week has been booked out for over a year. I'm telling you, you won't find a single free bed within 40 miles." Karl told them.

"Yeah, well, in that case we'll take the room. Could you give us the directions to the police station?" Juliet asked.

After receiving the directions they ran back to the car and parked as close to their room as possible. Juliet ran to their door opening it while Shawn grabbed their luggage and followed a few seconds later. Despite their running they were both soaking wet.

"Ugh, great… I'm soaked; I'll take a quick shower I think I'd be sick by tomorrow otherwise. Could you do me a favor and check if you can find any food? I'm starving." Juliet looked at Shawn with a small pleading smile tugged on her face.

"Of course, I think I saw a vending machine. Any preferences?"

"No, anything's fine. Thank you." With that she went into the bathroom.

_I think I'm gonna change into dry clothes first. She does have a point with getting sick. _He thought while unbuttoning his shirt. He stripped down to his boxers and was just going through his bag in search for new clothes when the bathroom door opened and Juliet stepped out only covered by a towel.

"Oh my God, Shawn what are you still doing here? And why aren't you dressed?" She asked her eyes wide open. She quickly glanced down herself to see if all the important body parts were covered.

"Uh, I… I was…" _Breathe, Shawn. Stop acting like a total moron and say something._ His mind shouted at him. "Clothes…uhm…I wanted to change out of the wet clothes." He finally managed to say while trying to keep his eyes locked on hers. "Thought you'd be showering by now."

"I forgot to take my dry clothes to the bathroom and I actually wanted to avoid a scene like this." Both chuckled at that. "Mission not accomplished I guess."

"No, definitely not." Shawn laughed and took out his dry clothes. "I'll be out in a second." He winked at her while slipping his jeans on and grabbing a shirt. "I'll get the food." With that he rushed out of the door still without a shirt on and on his bare feet.

Juliet stepped out of the bathroom half an hour later finding Shawn half laying half sitting on the bed watching TV.

"Ah, there you are. I thought about breaking into the bathroom to see if you were still alive." He chuckled.

"Why shouldn't I be alive?" Asked Juliet obviously confused.

"Haven't you noticed that this whole place looks exactly like Bates Motel from _the_ Hitchcock classic 'Psycho'? There's actually an old mansion behind the motel. And well, I guess you've seen the movie so you'll see the similarities between our dearest Karl and Norman Bates. It's kind of creepy. I already searched the walls for any peepholes." He chuckled again. "Anyways I brought you some delicious treats." He motioned to the other half of the bed where some chocolate bars and a bag of chips were spread out. "But I say we should grab real dinner after going to the crime scene. What do you think?"

"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you. We should probably head off. Can you drive again I could eat on the way then?" She shot him a small smile.

"Of course."

They arrived at the police station after 5 minutes where they were briefed by the sheriff and were given the directions to the crime scene. So they got back in the car and drove through the rain for another 10 minutes.

"I think this is it. Looks kind of creepy." Shawn said coming to a halt in front of an old house in the outskirts of Ellensburg. "This whole town is kind of creepy… or maybe it's just the weather. I haven't seen so much rain in my whole life." He scowled at the dark clouds that were indicating the next rainstorm in the near future.

"Let's get this over with." Juliet told him while stepping out of the car and walking towards the house.

Shawn followed her quickly. His first impression was affirmed when they entered the house. Every time they stepped forward the wooden floor screeched under their feet. Juliet tried to switch on the lights but apparently the energy company had already turned off the current supply. She took out her flashlight and shone the way. They stepped into the living room were the dead body had been found yesterday. Juliet looked at the crime scene photos she had brought along.

"Everything looks the same. Same posture, same rose. The file says the police found this room cleaned up like this but there is a blood stain in the bathroom where they suspect the actual murder. Do you sense anything?" She asked her companion who had remained atypically silent.

"No, it's weird. I'm not getting _anything_. But still something is bugging me about this place but I just can't put my finger on it. How about we take a look at the bathroom and then head out? We'll probably get more out of the photos anyway." He suggested. "And besides, I'm hungry and I can't think when I'm hungry. So how about we eat some dinner afterwards? We drove by a diner on our way."

"That's actually a good idea. Let's wrap it up. I really want to get out of here, this place is creeping me out." She shuddered.

They didn't find any clues in the bathroom and were now sitting in the small diner. They had already ordered their food and were talking about the case.

"You think Carlton is pissed at me for taking the lead on this case?" Juliet asked taking a sip of her beer (Shawn had convinced her to order one since she wasn't on duty anymore).

"We're talking about Lassie here. Of course he's pissed." Shawn mused. "Just don't take it personally. You can't really hold it against him. He worked this case before and he is of course determined to find his neighbors killer. He seemed to be rather close to them, didn't he?"

"Yeah, it was weird. I've never seen him act so nicely around anyone else and he was sincerely concerned when the old lady fainted." She looked up when the waitress came back with their food. Both had ordered a burger and fries. "Wow, this looks delicious. Enjoy your meal." She said to Shawn who just nodded back with a full mouth.

"Hey I've also seen a bar along the way how about the two of us grab a drink before we get to bed?" Shawn proposed after they finished eating.

"I don't know, Shawn…" Juliet hesitated. She actually really wanted to grab another beer but they had to get up early in the morning to work on their case.

"Come on, Jules. Let loose for once. It's just one drink!" He looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Alright. One drink, that's it!" She warned him.

**A/N: Yeeeeeah right 'one drink'... :D usually that means someone is about to get wasted ;) find out what happens in the next chapter...probably tomorrow ;) Reviews are always appreciated :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4  
><strong>_

20 minutes later they sat down at a table in the crowded bar. They had been lucky to find the free table and Shawn had already gotten them a beer. It didn't take long until a tall blond obviously half-drunk woman came to their table asking Shawn to dance with her. He looked over to Juliet seeking for help but she just grinned at him.

"Don't be rude, Shawn. Get up and dance with her."

Shawn stood up rolling his eyes and took the blonde woman's hand to lead her to the little dance floor. _Jules will SO pay for this._ He thought to himself.

Halfway through the song he saw that Juliet got up from her seat making her way to the exit. When she saw Shawn's questioning look she pointed to her cell phone and then to the door trying to make him understand that she was trying to get outside to answer a phone call.

Shawn nodded and refocused on dancing with Michelle (the blonde woman).

After another three songs Shawn was finally able to shake of Michelle's solemn grip on him and walked back to their table only to find it unoccupied. Why did Juliet take so long? Worried he made his way through the bar and stepped outside.

"Jules?" he exclaimed. "Hey Jules, are you still out here?" No answer. _Damnit where are you?_ He thought. He took out his cell phone and tried calling her. It was ringing so she wasn't on the phone with anyone anymore. But she wasn't picking up either. He wandered around making sure she wasn't out here somewhere.

Shawn ran back inside._ Maybe she got back in without me noticing or maybe I'm just overreacting and she only went to the lavatory._

He walked through the room bumping into a woman nearly sending her to the floor if he hadn't got a hold on her arms and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I-… Jules?" He asked looking surprised at the woman in his arms. "I've been looking for you for the past 20 minutes. Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay, Shawny." She giggled. "Jake here was just buying me a drink… or two." She put her right hand on the chest of a tall guy next to her, letting it run up and down his body slowly.

"Jules, are you drunk?" Shawn asked bewildered. He had never seen her like this. How could she go from sober to wasted in twenty minutes? Then he saw ten empty shot glasses standing on the bar where she was obviously sitting.

"No, Shawn, of course not. I'm just having fun. Letting loose like you wanted me to."

"I didn't want you to get drunk. You were the one who said you wanted just one drink." He sighed. "How about I get you back to the motel?"

"Nooooo, I want to stay, Shawny." Juliet whined. "Jake promised me to show me his room later."

"Okay, that's it. We're going. Now." He took her hand into his and pulled her along back to their table where their jackets and her purse were and finally guided her trough the exit doors stepping out into the dark.

"You're such a party pooper." Juliet pouted.

"Yeah, well I can live with that." Shawn sighed. "Jules, where are the car keys?"

She grinned goofily at him. "I don't know. You'll have to find them on your own, Shawny boy."

They stopped in front of their rental car still holding hands when Juliet suddenly broke their connection and slapped his chest. "Let's play tag. You're it." She tried to run away but Shawn was faster and put both of his hands on her waist to keep her from running. He pinned her against the side of the car.

"Jules, where are the keys? I really need to get you to bed." He coaxed, instantly regretting his ambivalent expression when he felt Juliet's hips grinding against his.

She moved her hands up to his chest; slowly leaning her head closer. "I bet you need to do that." She whispered.

_Oh dear God. _Shawn thought gathering all his strength to keep his composure. _Be strong. Think of something else. She has a boyfriend and even though I hate him I can't let this happen._ He took a step back and grabbed quickly her purse.

Meanwhile Jules still smiled goofily swaying her hips to the rhythm of the music from the bar when Shawn finally found the car keys.

"Alright we can go now. Can you get in the car on your own?" He asked.

"Of course, Shawny." She said while stumbling around the car. "It's not like I'm drunk." Just a second after finishing her words she tripped over her own feet and found herself falling. Shawn who had followed her around the car quickly grabbed her waist and prevented her from falling to the floor. He opened the passenger door and maneuvered her into the seat.

By the time he started the car Juliet was sleeping next to him. It was a twenty minute drive back to the motel and she was so fast asleep that she didn't wake up when he called out her name to wake her after they arrived. _Ugh, great. _Shawn thought opening her door and unfastening her seat belt. He slipped one arm under her legs and one around her back and lifted her out of the car somehow managing to close the door with one foot. Arriving at their room door he turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open. He carefully lay the young woman down on the bed. _Now what? She can't sleep in these clothes but she'd kill me if I undressed her. _

"Jules. Hey, Jules. You need to wake up." He said raising his voice a little. And it worked. Her eyelids fluttered and she began to wake up.

"Go away. I want to sleep." She mumbled snuggling into the covers and closing her eyes again.

"No, Jules. You need to undress first. Then you can sleep, alright?" Shawn tried to keep her awake cupping her face with his hands. "Come on. Get up." He took her hands and lifted her into a sitting position.

"Okay." She muttered opening her eyes a little. "But you need to help me."

"Uh you sure you can't do that on your own?" He said blushing a little.

"Pleeeeeease, Shawn. Pretty please with a pineapple on top." Juliet pleaded batting her eyes suggestively at him.

"Alright. You got me at pineapple. So what would you like to wear?" Shawn gave in knowing that she wouldn't stop whining until he agreed. He picked up her bag from the floor and brought in to the bed.

"I want your t-shirts." She answered determined while tugging on his shirt. "And there are boxers somewhere in there." She motioned to the bag.

Knowing that resistance was futile he sighed and pulled off his shirt over his head. He unbuttoned her blouse and pushed it off only to lift up her tank top over her head. Shawn inhaled sharply. He knew she was beautiful but seeing her like this only in her bra made him realize just how perfect she was. To give her at least some privacy he moved behind her and helped her unclasp her bra and put on his shirt. _So far, so good. _He thought while his face was refusing to return to its usual color.

Before he could do anything else Juliet had shifted to a laying position and had managed to remove her trousers leaving her in her panties. Shawn blushed even more his face looking like a tomato by now. _What is wrong with me? It's not like I've never seen a half naked woman before. But then again none of those women were Jules. _He thought.

"A little help would be nice." Juliet whispered with closed eyes threatening to fall asleep again.

With trembling fingers he took the boxers into his hands and moved to the end of the bed to slip the fabric over her feet, slowly pushing it up along her legs. Why was it so hard to dress not even undress but _dress_ a woman? He didn't dare to breathe when he reached her thighs. It felt like a lifetime until the pants were finally in place. Shawn was sitting on the edge of the bed his hands still on Juliet's hips while he glanced down at the lying woman next to him.

"Thank you, Shawn." She whispered sitting up so that her head was only a few inches away from his. They slowly moved in never losing eye contact. Just as their lips were about to connect Shawn broke the silence. "We should go to sleep." It was only a hoarse whisper. They both knew he was right but they stayed in their intimate position until a shrill ring made them jump apart. 'Anne' read Juliet's cell phone display.

"Uhm, it's a friend. I really should take this."

"I'll be in the bathroom." Shawn said while standing up and walking over to the door.

After shutting the door behind him he closed his eyes. _Idiot._ He thought while taking of his clothes and stepping into the shower. Five minutes later he was standing in front of the sink with a towel around his waist. He listened intently if he could hear Juliet's voice but there were just some muffled words. He ajarred the door taking a peek outside and heard her voice clearly now. _Eavesdropping should be my second name._ He thought smiling to himself. Maybe he would get some info for a 'vision' later.

Juliet's voice was still a little slurred from the alcohol and she moved her hand to her temple clearly having a headache.

"Anne, please, my head is pounding like hell and I'm not really at the top of my game." She sighed, waiting for a response. "No, I don't want to talk about Declan right now, I don't really want to talk at all right now." Pause. "Are you serious? You chose this exact moment to tell me that you want to ask out Shawn? Shawn Spencer?" _Fuck. I don't want that. How weird would it be if he was dating one of my best friends? Damnit what can I do to stop this? _She tried the best to think of a solution but that was hard because her head was killing her right now. _I could just make him look bad. That's it. Here goes. _

"Are you sure to go out with someone like Shawn? I mean he's nice and everything but he's not really boyfriend material except if you want to know what it's like to date a 10 year old. He's so childish all the time and he never takes anything seriously. He never takes responsibility for anything…" _What else? Come on Juliet forget your headache for a minute and think. This is important. _"And you don't believe how annoying it is to work with him I don't even want to think of how it would to date him. And his obsession with pineapple is ridiculous." She shuddered to make her words more powerful. "Anne, listen it feels like my head will explode if I keep talking so we should talk about this another time. Good night." She waited for a response and hung up. _I hope it worked. I feel so bad for talking about Shawn like that…or maybe it's the alcohol?_

Shawn had closed the door silently in the meantime. He leaned against it closing his eyes and running a hand through his damp hair. _Wow. Jules thinks of me like that? She's sure as hell good at hiding her real feelings for me. How could I not see that she's lying every time she's around me? _His first shock was replaced by disappointment. Was he actually that bad? Anger flooded his body. _I'm sorry that I can't be as mature as her precious filthy rich boyfriend. _He thought fiercely._ No, wait. I'm not sorry. If she doesn't like who I am I'll show her that she'd like a serious Shawn even less._ _No more pineapple (I can't believe she dissed pineapples), no more jokes, no more movie quotes, no using funny names or anything._ He tried to regain his composure before stepping into the bedroom again.

He found Juliet asleep on the bed. He took a pillow and put it on the couch in the corner. She'd probably kill him if she woke up the next morning with a huge hangover while sharing a bed with him.

**The next morning…**

Juliet woke up with a start when she heard the shrill ring of her cell phone. She felt for the annoying object on the nightstand. Without looking at caller ID she answered the call.

"O'Hara." She mumbled.

"Morning, Juliet. Just wanted to make sure you woke up in time. I'll be back at the motel in half an hour so you should probably get ready in the meantime." She heard Shawn's panting voice.

"Shawn? Where are you?"

"I'm just taking a run. Want me to bring back some coffee?"

"Taking a run? Shawn it's like…" She looked at the clock on the wall. "6.30 in the morning." She rubbed her forehead in confusion. "Coffee would be great though."

"Alright see you in a bit." With that he hung up.

_Taking a morning run? Seriously?__ Who was that and what did he do to Shawn? Weird. _

She stood up holding on the nightstand when she felt a wave of dizziness running through her body. Why did she get drunk? _Oh, right. The phone call with Declan. Damnit._ Tears dwelled up in her eyes. _Don't think about it. _She told herself while grabbing new clothes and walking into the bathroom.

The shower did wonders to her tired body. When she stepped out of the bathroom half an hour later she finally felt alive again. Entering the bedroom she was greeted by the smell of coffee.

Shawn was sitting at the table with two cups of coffee in front of him.

"Thanks, Shawn. I really need some caffeine right now." She smiled widely at him. "How was your run?"

"It was good. This town is actually pretty nice when it isn't raining. Oh, the Chief called and wanted to know if we found anything." He said motioning to her cell phone. "Told her that you'd call her back. I'm hitting the shower." He stood up and went to the bathroom.

15 minutes later it was settled that they'd go back to the station to talk to the woman who found the victim and the two officers who processed the crime scene.

**12 hours later…**

It was the end of a very long day. Shawn and Juliet had talked to a bunch of people with the exact same result every time: no clues. The Rose Murderer remained a ghost without leaving any evidence. But that wasn't what bugged Juliet. It was her…well what was he? Partner? Colleague? Not really. Consultant/Friend. He was awfully quiet all day, not making any random movie quotes or acting ridiculously in front of others not even once. Even his rare smiles seemed insincere. Every time she glanced over to him today he was actually working. Going through case files or listening intently to the officers. What the hell was going on with him? She sighed audibly which made him look up with a questioning look.

"How about we call it a day?" She asked. "I'm starving. We could grab a burger at that diner we went to yesterday." _Food. That will crack him. That's what always cheers him up._ She thought triumphantly.

"Yeah, sure." He smiled half-heartedly looking down at the crime scene photos again, finally collecting them and putting them neatly away into a folder. "Alright, let's go." He said getting up from his chair and offering her a hand.

She looked bewildered at him when he saw his hand in front of her. She laid her hand into his and he pulled her up from his chair, grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and helped her to get in.

"Uh, thanks?" It was more of a question than statement she directed at him.

"You're welcome. Shall we go?" She nodded in reply.

When they arrived at the diner after a 10 minute drive Shawn quickly rounded the car to open the car door for her and help her out. Juliet was still too confused and taken aback to refuse any of his offers.

The waitress came to their table ready to take their orders.

"Two cheeseburgers with fries and two beers, please." Juliet answered for both of them looking over to Shawn with a smile sprawled across her face ordering the same food they had yesterday.

"Uh actually it's just one cheeseburger with fries and one beer and I'd like the caesar salad and a diet coke." He said after quickly glancing at the menu earning another confused look on Juliet's face.

"Okay, Shawn. You've been weird all day. What's wrong?" She finally spoke up.

"What are you talking about? I'm not weird." Shawn countered.

"Yes, you are. You went for a run this morning. You brought back coffee not only for yourself but for me as well. You are super courteous today. You opened every door for me. You actually _worked_ today. And you were like totally concentrated. You didn't quote a movie once. Even I could think of at least 5 suitable quotes. You don't really smile anymore and you seem so focused and serious. And now you're eating salad? I mean come on Shawn, what's wrong?" She asked him again.

"You do realize that no one else had anything against my behavior? And besides, you make it sound like the things I did were wrong when they seem just fine to me. I'm sure Amy here" He motioned to the waitress that had come back to their table with their drinks and had witnessed Juliet's speech. "Can assure you that not one single thing you listed would bother any other woman."

Amy nodded. "Actually he sounds like the perfect gentleman and I see him smiling the whole time." She batted her eyes at him but was interrupted when Juliet cleared her throat. "But this is none of my business. I'll get your food."

"Anything else you'd like to criticize?" Shawn asked looking expectantly at her.

She looked down. "You called me Juliet." She whispered.

"So what?"

"You always call me Jules, even when you're mad at me." She looked up to meet his gaze.

He didn't know what to say. Calling her Juliet was actually one of the harder things to do in his new life as 'serious Shawn'. And that seemed to have quite an effect on her, she seemed truly upset. "I…uh… thought it would be better if we kept things more professional while working together."

"Huh, so you won't call me Jules again while working with me?" She asked not believing his excuse.

"Seriously what's the problem anyway? It's just a name." He sighed taking a sip from his coke.

"_That's_ the problem, Shawn. It's not just a name. It's part of our friendship. When you call me Jules I now that everything is alright. I know that you are there for me and that you care. But that's just not how I felt today. It felt, hell it _feels_, like you don't care. About me or our friendship. And I really _need_ a friend right now." She looked down again trying to fight back her tears. She wanted the old Shawn back. Now.

And again Shawn was left speechless. This time Amy saved him when she came back with their food. _Salad. Great. I'm so going to raid the vending machine later. _He thought looking down at his plate filled with the green stuff he usually avoided.

They ate in silence avoiding each other's secret gazes. Maybe he should scale down his actions and go a little smoother on her. She took his change harder than he expected.

The rest of the evening was spent in uncomfortable silence. When they finally arrived back at the motel Juliet's phone went off.

"O'Hara." Pause. "Good evening, Chief." Pause. "No, everything's alright. But we haven't found anything yet." Pause. "Okay, we'll be back tomorrow." Pause. "I will. Good night, Chief"

"Chief says 'hi'" she told Shawn after hanging up. They had walked back into their room during the talk. "She wants us to come back to Santa Barbara tomorrow. Buzz already booked our flights and will send us the details via email. I'm going to bed." She announced in a monotone voice still refusing to look into his eyes.

Three hours later Shawn woke up from his sleep. He heard an unusual noise. What was that? Wait. Was it a sob? Somebody was crying. No, not _somebody. _Juliet was crying. The moon was shining through the windows so he could see that her back was facing him but he could definitely see that her body was rocking slightly. Damnit she actually was crying. He got up from the couch as silently as he could and walked over to the bed.

"Jules?" He whispered into the darkness.

Her sobs grew louder now. "Go away, Shawn."

**A/N: So that'S it for now. Did you like?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Soo here's the next update.**

_**Chapter 5**_

_Her sobs grew louder. "Go away, Shawn."**  
><strong>_

"No, Jules, I won't do that." With that he climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He felt her flinch slightly at his touch but didn't care. He pulled her closer holding on to her tightly. She turned her body around and dug her face into his chest letting her tears fall freely now. Shawn tried to soothe her with rubbing his hands over her back in a steady pace and whispering comforting words into her ear. Her sobs stopped after a while leaving her crying silently in his t-shirt.

"Do you wanna talk about it, Jules?" Shawn whispered looking down at the woman in his arms.

She took a moment before she looked about meeting his intense and concerned look. Her eyes were puffy and red and tears were still streaming down her cheeks. Shawn gently wiped away the tears with his thumb.

"It's… it's just too much for me right now." She mumbled. Shawn waited patiently for her to go on. "Declan called yesterday when we were at that bar. He… he was supposed to be on a business trip in New York but when he called he said he was in Las Vegas." She sobbed again. "He sounded drunk and I heard loud music in the background. Then he said I should congratulate him. When I asked him why he said… he said that he got married. He said she was a dancer in a club he went to and that he felt a deeper connection between them and so they got married right away." She pressed out.

"I felt so bad, Shawn. That's why I got drunk yesterday. I just couldn't handle it. I didn't want to. How could I be so wrong about him? I thought I finally found someone I could love and spend my life with and then he runs off and marries some random woman?"

"Oh, Jules, you couldn't possibly foresee that he would do something like that. Did you talk to him today? Maybe nothing really happened and he was just drunk and was telling you stuff that wasn't true." He told her while gingerly brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"He sent me a text telling me he was sorry and that one of his servants would drop of my stuff at my apartment. A text is all I get after nearly 6 months?" She asked bitterly.

"Then he didn't deserve you and he just wasn't the one for you. Think positive."

"Seriously? Think positive? That's your advice? What is there that is possibly positive about what happened?" She looked at him in disbelief.

"Well, technically you only spend 6 months with him. Imagine this happening after 2 years… It's just as I said: he wasn't the one for you. Now you won't have to waste anymore time with him. And seriously, he's a jerk if he lets you go."

"You say that now but you appeared to think differently about me all day. It felt like the past four years of friendship didn't exist to you anymore. Even after getting back here when I was drunk last night you didn't ask what was wrong. Not once. It's like you didn't…like you don't care about me." Disappointment was clear to be seen in her eyes.

"Jules, listen, I care about you. A lot actually. I didn't ask because I didn't want to push you when you're not ready to talk about it and I thought you might want to decide for yourself when to tell me. I had a hunch that this was about Declan and let's be honest your relationship with him was always a kind of a sensible topic to talk about. But don't you ever think again that I don't care about you, Jules. I'll always care and I'll always be there for you when you need me." They never broke eye contact while he spoke; Juliet was overwhelmed when she saw the forceful sincerity in his eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She was so glad to finally have _her_ Shawn back.

"Thank you, Shawn." She smiled happily at him. "So tell me, how did I end up in your shirt last night?" She asked grinning suspiciously at him now.

His cheeks turned red and he smiled sheepishly back at her. "Uh that's a loooong story and we should really get to sleep now." He winked at her and moved away letting go of her body to get back to the couch.

"Shawn? Can you… stay?" She whispered barely audible. Without losing a second he got back to his previous position wrapping his arms securely around her. Both fell asleep with a smile on their face.

**The next morning…**

Juliet woke up slowly not opening her eyes. She snuggle deeper into the pillow beneath her. A pillow that smelled really good. Wait! A pillow that smelled like Shawn. She opened her eyes in shock. Shawn was lying on his back while Juliet was basically lying on top of him with her head on his chest. Her left hand was on top of his heart while the other one was securely held in his left hand. His right arm was tugged around her waist holding her body in place.

She inhaled his scent one more time and sighed contently. This felt so right yet her mind was screaming at her to get up and away from him. She felt him shifting under her and couldn't stop smiling when he softly brushed his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Morning." His voice was still hoarse from sleeping.

She shifted her head and looked up to him and saw a mischievous smile playing around his lips. "Morning." She mumbled into his chest.

"Comfortable?" He asked looking at their position.

"Very." She dug her head into his chest again trying to hide her blushed cheeks.

"Will you let me get up? I'd really like to take a run before we pack our stuff together."

Her smile faded instantly (of course he couldn't see that because her head was still buried in his chest). Ever since their talk last night she thought she had found old Shawn but old Shawn wouldn't get up to take a run at 6 in the morning voluntarily.

"You can come with me if you like." He suggested not sure how to interpret her silence.

"No, it's okay. I think I'll just take a long shower and I guess I have some thinking to do." She mumbled into his chest.

"I will stay if you want to talk to someone?" He looked down letting his fingers brush tenderly through her hair.

"That's really sweet but I need some time alone to… you know… sort some things out." She said placing her chin on his chest and looking directly into his eyes.

"Alright, I'll have my phone with me if you need me. But you know you kind of have to get off of me so I can get up." He smirked at her.

She hesitated for a second but eventually rolled off of him with their hands still entwined. Instantly missing the warmth of his body she shivered slightly. Shawn got up letting go of her hand and taking a blanket to cover up her body. He stood in front of the bed for a second looking down at the young detective with a smile sprawled on his face.

One and a half hour later they were both showered and sat at the table in their room sipping coffee and eating bagels that Shawn had brought back from his run.

"We need to go by the station to fill out some paper work before we get to the airport but it shouldn't take too long." Juliet said between two bites. Shawn just nodded in response much to Juliet's distress. Even though he smiled more often while being around her she could still see that sometimes it was a forced smile and he remained awfully quiet despite his efforts to seem normal. She could always see it in his eyes when his wasn't his normal self.

**A/N: So that's it for the moment. I'll be updating tonight, so stay tuned ;) Thank you to** unpocoloco13** for my first and sadly only review! But now I know that at least one person is reading this...yay...**


	6. Chapter 6

**What? 3 new reviews? Thank you! You actually managed to motivate me to finish this story. So enjoy this shules-ish chapter and keep up reviewing :D**

_**Chapter 6  
><strong>_

**10 hours later in Santa Barbara…**

It was another long day for the two. After spending numerous hours in the car and on the plane they were finally back in sunny Santa Barbara. They were currently sitting in Chief Vick's office telling her again about what they had found out.

"I talked to the police department in Amarillo but luckily nothing happened so far. They'll keep their eyes open. The same applies to the next cities on the list. This was real good work by the way Mr. Spencer." She nodded in his direction.

"Thank you, Chief." He answered with a small smile.

Chief Vick looked over to Juliet. What happened in the past two days? He was quiet, rarely smiled and hadn't made any witty remark yet. But Juliet looked as bewildered and confused as she did and just shrugged her shoulder at the chief's silent question.

"Well it's been a few exhausting days for you two. How about you call it a day and head home, get some sleep so you can start again tomorrow?" The Chief suggested.

They thanked the Chief and headed out of her office trying to avoid Lassiter's suspicious glances while he was sitting at his desk going through some case he worked on.

"Shawn, could you do me a favor?" Juliet asked when they arrived at her car.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Can you drive again? I know you already drove from L.A. back here but I'm so tired and I really don't want to cause any accidents. I had to hold back at least ten yawns while we talked to the Chief." She chuckled.

He smiled at her. "Of course."

By the time he came to a halt in front of his place she was sleeping in the passenger seat. Just like two days ago he carried her out of the car and into the old dry cleaner's store. Laying her finally down on his bed and covering her up. _She can just sleep for a few hours and I can use this time to eat some pineapple. I feel like I haven't eaten any in months. And I'll call Gus, I'm pretty sure he missed me. _He chuckled at his thoughts.

Stepping into his kitchen he had to find out that he didn't have any food at home except for two pineapples. He sighed and quickly wrote a note for Juliet in case she woke up while he was at the grocery store.

She didn't wake up. She was still in the same position he left her when he came back 30 minutes later. He smiled when he saw the peaceful and relaxed smile that was tugged on her lips.

It was still only 7 pm so he sat down on his couch and turned on the TV. He would start cooking in an hour or so and would wake Juliet when everything was ready. But first he had to call Gus.

It was a short conversation as Shawn didn't want to tell him over the phone about how he eavesdropped on Juliet's phone call and what happened last night. So they set a time to meet at the Psych office the next morning. Shawn refocused on the TV instead watching reruns of Full House.

After a good half hour he got bored and decided to start cooking. So he went to the kitchen and began his work always keeping an eye on the cookbook his father had given him for Christmas once.

Once he was done he set the table and walked into his bedroom to wake Juliet. "Jules, hey, Jules, wake up." He said keeping his voice low.

She awoke slowly, opening her eyes just a bit at first. Where was she? She looked around when her eyes were fully open. She was lying in an unfamiliar bed. A wave of anxiety flooded her body. Why was she here? When she looked up her gaze settled on Shawn. She relaxed immediately and sighed relieved. She was apparently in Shawn's bed. Wait. _Why _exactly was she in Shawn's bed?

"Hey, sleepyhead, nice of you to join me again. Get up, dinner's ready." He said and walked out of the room.

She quickly got up and followed him into the kitchen. There was a table set for two with plates and two glasses of wine. She inhaled the scent when she came closer to the table. It smelled really good.

"Uh Shawn, you cooked this?" _Please say no. Please say you ordered in and just put the food in the pots to make it seem like you cooked. Please be old Shawn and not new Shawn. _Her mind pleaded.

He nodded eagerly and motioned to the cookbook on the kitchen counter. "But I must say that I had some help. Come on, sit down." He pulled back a chair and waited until she was seated till he took his own seat.

"So how did I end up in your bed? And fully clothed for that matter, did you lose your magic on women?" She asked playfully while Shawn handed her a plate with pasta and tomato sauce. "This smells and looks delicious by the way."

"Thanks." He smiled at her obviously proud to have cooked an actual meal. "I don't know about my magic but you fell asleep in the car and I didn't want to wake you so I brought you in here. Thought you needed the sleep."

"Thank you." She gave him a small smile trying to hide her disappointment when he didn't really pick up her playful remark.

They ate in silence much to Juliet's dismay. She felt more and more uncomfortable being with him. Something she definitely wasn't used to. It was always easy to be with him and have a good laugh but now he just sat there and didn't say a word.

"So, Shawn how are things anyway with you? We barely talked lately." She tried to start a conversation.

"Uh things are fine, I guess." He answered not looking at her. Of course he knew as well that they hadn't talked to each other in a while. They talked about cases and case related things but that was it. No personal questions, even their bantering had become rare.

They fell back into silence._ Great plan. Definitely worked out to start anything close to a conversation._ Juliet thought bitterly. They finished eating and Shawn stood up to wash the dishes. Juliet stayed in her seat and watched him for a while. What had made him change so dramatically? And when exactly did it start? Did it start before their trip to Ellensburg? What triggered the change? These and a thousand more questions went through Juliet's head. She missed the old Shawn. She missed his jokes. She missed his flirtatious winks. But what she missed the most was his smile. She hadn't seen him smile genuinely at her for a while now.

A single tear made its way across her cheek without her noticing. But Shawn noticed. He had turned around and saw her sitting in her chair with a sad expression on her face.

Without saying a word he kneeled down in front of her chair bringing his hand up to her face. He softly wiped away the tear with his thumb.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Shawn's touch on her face. She looked squarely into his eyes. What she saw wasn't really helpful. Of course there was concern in his eyes but he looked so serious and concentrated. So un-Shawn-like. She could have sworn that his eyes didn't have the same hazel brown color but were darker instead. Colder. That was when she lost it completely. She started sobbing uncontrollably and tears were running unstoppable down her cheeks.

Shawn was startled by her sudden outburst but recovered quickly standing up and pulling her up from the chair into his arms, engulfing her in a tight hug. She buried her face into his chest, grateful for the warmth and comfort of his body.

He tried to usher her out of the kitchen but she didn't move so he picked her up bridal style for the second time today and carried her to the sofa. He sat down holding her in place on his lap and just let her cry into his chest. _What's going on with her? Apparently the breakup with Declan is harder on her than I thought. I guess she actually really loved him._ He thought bitterly oblivious to the fact that she was crying because of him and not her ex boyfriend.

The sobbing stopped after a while and Shawn could tell that she fell asleep judging by her steady breathing. He sighed and shifted uncomfortable beneath her. His back would definitely hurt like hell if he stayed like this the whole night. So he fastened his grip around her and got up. He glanced at the clock on the wall: 9.42 pm. He decided to wake her up once he had placed her on his bed again.

"Jules, wake up." He said while running his hand up and down her arm.

She opened her eyes and her look fell immediately on the man sitting next to her. Realization dawned on her. She was in Shawn's bedroom after basically crying her eyes out in front of him for the second time within 24 hours. She blushed at that thought. _Oh my God, when did I become such girly girl? Crying like a ten year old girl in front of Shawn of all people. _

"Uh… hey." She said shyly.

"Hey." He said smiling down at her. This time she could tell it was genuine. There was no force behind it and she felt her heart melt just like every time he shot her this smile. "Wanna change into something more comfortable? "

"Change? Uh… no. I think I should head home. I don't want impose on you." She said sitting up and trying to move out of his bed.

"Nope, sorry I won't let you get out of this room. Well of course out of this room since you'll need to use the bathroom but not out of this building." He said with determination.

"Shawn, I should really get home. It's late and I have to work tomorrow and…" She was interrupted by Shawn.

"Jules, you stay here. End of discussion."

"You can't tell me what to do. And if you hold me against my will in here I could press charges." She looked directly at him and there was no hint in her eyes that she was just joking around.

"Jules, be reasonable." His voice softened immediately when he saw anger rising in her eyes. "You've been up for nearly 16 hours now, you're chasing a crazy serial killer and you're going through a break-up. Back when I got my driver's license I was told not to drive when I'm in an unstable emotional state. You of all people should know better than driving home tonight." He put his hand on hers squeezing it a little to reassure her.

She looked down. "I just… you…" She didn't know what to say because she knew he was right she shouldn't drive home. She should stay here.

"It's okay, Jules. I'll get your bag from the car and you'll stay the night, alright?" He had moved his other hand up to cup her face and he finally found her eyes again. She nodded slightly.

Half an hour later Juliet was lying in his bed again in her sleeping boxer shorts and the t shirt she had demanded from him two nights ago. She was waiting for Shawn to exit the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom. But after a few minutes her body started to protest against her efforts to stay awake and the wave of tiredness won over her and she closed her eyes drifting to sleep instantly.

When she woke up again the lights were out and apparently Shawn had put the covers over her. She rolled over to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand: 11.30 pm. She sighed and got out of bed. She tiptoed on her bare feet through the bedroom and entered the living room. Shawn was sitting on the couch and the TV was on. She stood behind the couch and watched a rerun of an episode of Full House for a minute until she reached down to place a hand on Shawn's shoulder. As soon as her fingers touched him he flinched and jumped up.

"What the… Jules, oh my God you nearly scared me to death here." He said after turning around and spotting Juliet standing there.

She chuckled. "Why aren't you sleeping yet?" She said with a inquisitive look.

"Well if you must know: I was so nervous because there was this hot chick sleeping in my bed and I was too scared that she would sneak out on me. So I camped out here to make sure she stays right where she is." He winked at her.

"Hot chick, huh? Well I can assure you that said hot chick isn't going anywhere." She mused. "At least not if you join her because she's feeling kind of lonely in your big bed." She put on a fake pout.

"Is that so?" His voice was husky now making him sound so sexy in Juliet's opinion.

She bit her lip and nodded her head slightly. He swallowed hard. This woman would be the death of him. Without saying a word he turned off the TV and rounded the couch. He held out his hand and Juliet happily wrapped her fingers around his while they made their way into the bedroom. As soon as both where lying in bed Shawn opened his arms invitingly and Juliet snuggled up to him right away, placing her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around his abdomen. Before they said there goodnights Shawn planted a soft kiss on the top of her hair which made her smile into his chest.

**A/N: So I hope you liked it! Reviews are very welcome. (:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimers as usual: I don't own Psych!**

_**Chapter 11**_

**The next morning…**

Juliet woke up slowly; feeling cold, gone was the comfortable warmth of the previous night. She turned her head and opened her eyes only to find the other half of the bed abandoned. She glanced over at the alarm clock that read 7.05 am. _Not again. _She pleaded silently to herself. _Just be in the bathroom and come back to bed, Shawn. Everything felt so perfect yesterday and now?_ She waited a few more minutes before she stood up and walked into the living room.

"Shawn? Where are you?" She called out before she stopped dead in her tracks.

Shawn was sitting on the couch with Gus playing a video game. At the sound of her voice they had both turned their heads. While Shawn was smiling obviously amused by the whole situation Gus was looking like he was seeing a ghost.

"Morning, Jules. Did you sleep well?" Shawn asked in a nonchalant voice acting as if this scene was as usual as it could get.

"Uh… Yeah, even though my pillow was missing when I woke up." She winked at him finally overcoming her first shock and falling right back into her flirtatious routine with Shawn.

"I bet you did." He chuckled. "Breakfast's in the kitchen. Want me to bring you some?"

"Nope, I'll get it myself, thanks. Morning, Gus. Why are you guys up so early?"

"Went for a run. Turns out we both need the exercise." Shawn laughed while patting on Gus' stomach.

That's when Gus snapped out of his trance. He had watched their conversation in disbelief. What the hell happened here? "Good morning to you, too, Juliet. Okay can one of you explain to me what exactly happened?"

"I'll get my breakfast." Juliet said in a sweet voice walking off into the kitchen.

"Shawn." Gus asked looking expectantly at his best friend.

"It's actually quite a long story, buddy. I'll tell you all about it when we get back to the Psych office, okay?" He looked seriously about it so Gus let him slide this time.

"But I wanna know everything!" He urged.

"Dude, did I ever not tell you everything?"

"How many examples do you need that prove otherwise?" Gus asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Shawn acted like Gus' accusation was totally far-fetched; putting his hand over his heart and acting like he was hurt. "Dude, really? That's what you think of me?" And then in a lower voice. "But seriously: nothing happened. She crashed here last night 'cause we were both exhausted and that's it."

Gus knew after all those years he spent with his best friend that he was telling the truth. He was just about to say something when Juliet reentered the room with a plate filled with pancakes and strawberries and a mug in her hands.

"Mind if I join you guys?"

"Just go ahead. You can have my seat; I gotta go home and take a shower before I start my route." Gus said while standing up motioning to his seat on the couch.

"Thanks, Gus." Juliet smiled at him and sat down.

"So I'm your pillow now, huh?" Shawn asked her with a mischievous smile playing around his lips after Gus had closed the front door behind him.

"I didn't say that. But I remember falling asleep next to this handsome man last night. Any idea where he is now?" She asked playfully.

"Well, well, detective. You just arrived back in town yesterday and already spent the night with a guy? Naughty much?" He answered looking at her with as much seriousness as he could manage in this situation.

"Well, Mr. Psychic, you should know that every woman has certain needs." She said while biting slowly into strawberry closing her eyes appreciative in the process.

Shawn had to swallow hard when he watched her. Taking a deep breath he found himself unable to find a proper retort. _Certain needs_. This woman would definitely be his death at some point. The ringing of the phone saved him from this embarrassing moment.

"Gotta take this." He pressed out between his clenched teeth and stood up. "Spencer."

Juliet opened her eyes again and a content smile was playing around her lips even though she was a little disappointed that they had been interrupted. She would have loved to enjoy his flustered reaction a little longer.

Meanwhile Shawn had walked into the kitchen and she couldn't hear what he was saying anymore. Just a few minutes later he came back rushing from the kitchen into the bedroom. Not ten minutes had passed since the phone call when he entered the living room again, freshly showered and with a duffel bag in his hand. He grabbed his leather jacket and his keys from the table when he noticed that Juliet was still sitting on his couch eating breakfast.

"Shoot. Uh Jules, I'm sorry I need to be somewhere. I'll call you when I land and explain everything okay. But right now I don't have time for explanations. Can you just lock the door behind you? Stay as long as you want." With that and an apologizing look in his eyes he bent down and kissed her cheek. "Bye, Jules, take care of yourself."

"Uhm…bye?" She was too startled to say anything else and before she finished the front door was already closed behind him.

_What the hell was that? __'I'll call you when I land'? What is going on? And where is he going? _Juliet was left on his couch with questions running through her mind.

**Four**** hours later in the police station…**

Juliet was sitting at her desk reviewing some paperwork. She couldn't help but let her mind wander off to a certain brown eyed psychic detective. He hadn't called her so far and she was beginning to get worried. She had even called Gus to see if he knew anything but he was basically as clueless as she was. Apparently Shawn had sent him a text message telling him that he needed to visit someone from his past. Even Gus didn't know everything from the time when Shawn traveled aimlessly from state to state and county to country. So both of them had no idea who that someone could be.

She was still deep in thought when Chief Vick approached her desk. "Detective O'Hara, would you mind telling what the hell has gotten into Shawn this time?" She was clearly upset.

"Excuse me, Chief? What do you mean?" Juliet asked flinching at the Chief's harsh tone.

"He just called me, letting me know that he wouldn't be able to work on this case for the next week or so. Would you mind telling me what the heck is going on? And where is he anyway?"

"If only I knew that. Chief, I'm sorry about this but I actually have no I idea where he went. He got a phone call this morning and then just drove off. Looks like he's flying somewhere. Even Gus has no idea on his whereabouts." Juliet said keeping her voice low.

"Well, find him. Track his phone. Look at his credit card record. I don't care. We need him on this case. And we need him now and not in a week or so. Understood?"

"Yes, Chief." Juliet answered straightening up in her seat.

Just a few seconds after the Chief went back to her office Juliet's cell phone started buzzing. _Speaking of the devil. _Juliet thought when she read Shawn's name on the display.

"Where the hell are you?" She demanded.

"Hey Jules, it's so nice to hear your voice, too." He said his voice drenched with sarcasm.

"Shawn, I'm not really up for your stupid games right now. Where are you? We're all worried about you."

"Jules, I told you I'd call you after I landed, didn't I?" Not waiting for an answer he continued. "I'm in Denver."

"You called the Chief first." She said reproachfully. "Wait did you say Denver? As in Denver in Colorado?"

"Yup. Listen, Jules, I'd really like to continue chatting with you but I need to go. Just know that I'm okay and that I'll be back as soon as I can. Could you email me the case files? I could go through them over here. Even though I doubt that we'll find any leads." He offered his help.

"Yeah, sure whatever." She grumbled in response.

"Don't be like that, Jules. I'll be back. I promise. And I'll call you everyday. How does that sound, huh?" He knew he was walking on thin ice right now so he tried to charm his way out of it.

All he got was a skeptical snort as a response.

"I'll buy you a present?" It was more of a question than a statement. Still no response. "Jules?"

She could almost hear as his smile slowly faded while he talked. _That's right, girl. Make him suffer._ She thought to herself with a satisfied grin playing around her lips. Shawn remained silent on the other end of the line obviously waiting for a reaction from her. That was when she heard a voice in the background. "Mr. Spencer, it's so good to have you back. I can't tell you how much everyone has missed you. Ashley keeps asking for Uncle Shawn." She could hear both of the men chuckle. "Well, I can tell you that it feels good to be back, Theodore. Shall we go?"

Then his voice was louder obviously he was speaking to her again. "Jules, I really gotta go. Last offer: I'll buy you a present for each day I'm gone, okay?"

"Whatever, Shawn." She tried to sound as impassively as possible even though her mind was working full speed trying to figure out what was going on.

She heard him sigh frustrated. "Take care, Jules. I'll call you tomorrow." Not waiting for her to answer he hung up.

Juliet sat there for a while staring at her phone wondering what exactly had happened. What was Shawn doing in Denver? Who was he talking to? What kind of life did he live before coming back to Santa Barbara? She sighed heavily and finally put away her phone to focus on the case files again. But despite her efforts on staying focused she couldn't help but let her mind wander again.

**A/N: Shawn left again :( And sometimes people go away for ever...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Soooo just like I promised this morning I give you the next chapter! I think it's the longest so far but the next chapter or the chapter after that will be pretty short so I'm trying to make up for that in advance ;) anyways I'm rambling... Enjoy! Hope you like my version of Shawn'S past.**

_**Chapter 8**_

**Meanwhile in Denver…**

Shawn closed his eyes and leaned back in the comfortable seat of the car. Theodore had turned on the radio and was humming along the rhythm of the song. Shawn smiled in the backseat feeling like it was 8 years ago again. His smile grew wider at the pleasant memories of this city. His smile faded though when they arrived at the Central Denver Hospital.

As soon as they stopped in front of the main entrance Theodore had gotten out of the car and opened the door for Shawn.

"I can show you to his room if you want, Mr. Spencer." He suggested while Shawn got out of the vehicle as well.

"Thank you, Theodore. I don't think that will be necessary though. Just give me the room number and I'll find it on my own. You look like you could use a break. Drive back to the house and take a nap or go for walk. Spend some time with your family. You sure deserve some time off." He looked into the elder man's eyes who in return just nodded.

"He's in room 307." He turned around to get back into the Maybach before he stopped and turned to face Shawn again. "It's really good to have you back, Mr. Spencer."

Shawn answered with a smile before entering the hospital.

Oh how he hated hospitals. He had been in them way too often, both as a patient and as a visitor. He hated everything about being in here. The white walls. The screeching of the shoes on the floor. The doctors wandering around in their white work coats. The emotions that ranged from relief and joy to desperation and grief. The thin line between life and death. But what he hated the most was the smell. He would never get used to that.

He finally reached the door that read 307. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before he entered. As soon as he had set a foot in the room he took in a sharp breath. He had expected it to look bad, Theodore had told him so on the phone this morning, but somehow this looked worse than he could have ever imagined. On the bed in front of him lay a man in his sixties with short gray hair that was neatly combed to one side and an also gray mustache that assured Shawn that this actually was the Mike Riley he knew. But the rest of his body just didn't fit Shawn's memories. The man actually looked old. Shawn recognized that the man looked thinner, nearly fragile; he was so pale that you could've mistaken him for a ghost. He had a lot of additional folds covering his forehead. He was attached to various tubes and wires. To sum up his observations Shawn could only think of one suitable word: awful.

He plopped down on the chair next to the sleeping man hoping that he would get a chance to talk to him again. Just like old times. That wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

Shawn sat there for an hour not moving an inch just dwelling on thoughts until a doctor entered the room.

"Ah hello. I'm Dr. Jenson. It's nice to see that Mr. Riley has a visitor." He smiled at Shawn offering him his hand.

Shawn shook it. "Shawn Spencer. So Doc let's cut to the point here. What can you tell me?"

Dr. Jenson hesitated for a second. Usually he wouldn't be allowed to tell non family members anything about the situation of a patient but this time was different. Ever since Mike Riley had been hospitalized two weeks ago not one day had passed without him urging his servant to call a certain Shawn Spencer. And now he was here.

"Well, Mr. Spencer, I won't lie to you. Mr. Riley is in really bad shape. The cancer has spread from his lungs to nearly all other essential organs. He refuses to start chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy again."

Shawn swallowed hard at this information. "How long?" He asked in a low voice.

Dr. Jenson looked at the younger man in front of him seeing the sincere sadness in his eyes. "We can't be sure. One maybe two weeks. Definitely not much longer than that. It seems like he has given up. He only wakes up for a few minutes every other hour. He's lethargic and doesn't bother to try and stand up anymore. And he barely speaks to anyone. But he has been very determined to have you here. You know normally he wakes up around this time so I'll leave you two alone. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask." He put a hand on Shawn's should giving him an encouraging smile.

Shawn could just nod slightly giving his best to pull his act together and don't sink to the ground and start crying like a little girl. Even though he really felt like doing so right now. That wouldn't help anyone in this situation. He sat back down on the chair and waited for Mike to wake up. He suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over his body. He hadn't been around much in the last 5 years. The psych thing had him so occupied that he hardly found the time to come down here and visit his old home. He smiled weakly at the sound of the word home. But that was the truth. Denver had been the first place in his years of traveling that he happily referred to as home. He couldn't think of any other place where he felt happier.

Suddenly the man next to him started to move, groaning lightly and shifting in the bed. Shawn moved his chair closer to the bed.

"Mike? Hey Mike, don't you wanna wake up for me?"

"Shawn is that you?" Mike asked in a weak voice.

"The one and only. Come on open your eyes, old man." He smiled. This would get him.

As he said the last two words Mike's eyes shot wide open. "Who are you calling an old man, huh?" He asked in playful angry voice and held up his hand a little.

Shawn took it into his own and did a secret handshake even though he realized that his friend was too weak to move his fingers. "So you wanna tell me what this is all about?" He motioned to the electronic equipment and the tubes and wires

"Sorry, kid, wish we met under better circumstances. But it's still good to see you again. Has been three years or so since you visited, hasn't it?" He asked in return not bothering to answer Shawn's question.

"Yeah about three years. Sorry, I couldn't stop by more often but Psych is actually doing pretty well and we have case after case." He couldn't keep a proud tone out of his voice when he said that.

"Tell me something about this Psych stuff you've got going on anyway."

And so Shawn did. He told him how he started out using his abilities to call in tips and how he was brought in for questioning when they thought he was part of the committed crimes and how he had to act like he was a psychic in order to avoid being locked away in prison. He told him how he met Juliet and how he pushed Gus to open up the Psych office together. He couldn't help but state proudly and with a sparkle in his eyes that they had a one hundred percent success rate.

"Well, well, who would've thought you'd finally settle down after all those years. And tell me is there a girl in your life?" Mike mused.

Shawn hesitated for a second. "Well there was one. Abigail. She was my high school crush and I met her at our reunion and we dated for a while but she broke up with me 'bout a year ago. Didn't want to live with the fear all the time." He said in a quite voice.

"So you haven't dated in a year? What happened? Did you lose your magic on women?" Mike asked laughing slightly.

Did you lose your magic on women? That was exactly the same question Juliet had brought up last night. He had to chuckle.

"What so funny, kid?" The older man asked confused.

"Well a woman asked the same question last night. Guess you're right about it."

"Who is she?"

"Juliet O'Hara. She's the Junior Detective in Santa Barbara. I work with her and we're friends." Shawn said smiling widely trying to cover up his wince at the word friends.

"Friends huh? Why would a _female_ friend ask you if you lost your magic on women _last night_?" Mike asked wit his eyebrows raised.

"Well, we…uh… we are good friends and she crashed at my place last night because we were pretty exhausted because of this case we're working on right now." Shawn said quickly.

Mike laughed at his reaction and was about to taunt him some more when Dr. Jenson entered the room again.

"Mr. Riley, it's nice to see you awake. We'd like to run a few tests so maybe you could wait outside, Mr. Spencer? It will only take half an hour." He turned to Shawn who nodded and shortly placed his hand on Mike's, smiling encouragingly at him and left the room.

"I'll be back in half an hour, Mike."

**Santa Barbara….**

Juliet sighed once again. She didn't want to admit it but Shawn was right. The case files didn't give them any clues. She thought back to last night. Back to Shawn. He had been great throughout the last few days despite his strange change of behavior. She knew that she could rely on him and that was exactly what she needed. She had enjoyed sharing a bed with him as well. His presence alone assured her that she was safe and that everything would be okay. She thought about the moment he had slung his arms around her waist holding her tightly to his chest, not letting go for the whole night. It felt so right, so meant to be. She would have thought that she wouldn't let him touch her in that way but she did and she didn't regret that decision for a moment. She couldn't help but let another content sigh slip through her lips when she thought about waking up in his arms two mornings in a row.

Chief Vick had watched her Junior Detective all morning. Juliet wasn't focused and she definitely wasn't making any progress. Not that she would blame her, there just weren't any clues or leads. Karen had looked over the case files herself for a few times and wasn't able to find anything. But she trusted the young detective to give her best and she would give her another two weeks until she'd go to a higher authority.

Juliet thought that the day just didn't seem to end. She was looking forward to Shawn's call tomorrow and was eager to find out what was going on with him. What she didn't know at the time was that she would have to wait for four weeks to talk to Shawn again.

**In Denver…**

The day was slowly coming to an end. It was still too fast in Shawn's opinion. He had come back to Mike's room half an hour later just as he promised and stayed with him the whole afternoon. They talked about the last years and about the day they met.

"Do you remember what happened, kid?" The older man asked Shawn with a huge smile on his face. If Shawn hadn't known better he would have never thought that this man was fatally ill.

He nodded. Of course he remembered that day. It was 8 years ago and he was forced to stop at a gas station in the outskirts of Denver with his Norton.

_~Flashback~_

_By the time he had gotten off his bike he had already taken in the scene in front of him. __Two older men were standing in front of a black Bentley their posture was defensive and Shawn could even see from the distance their scared facial expressions. There was another younger man standing in front of them. His appearance was the exact opposite of the others. He was standing tall in front of them facing them directly, with one hand in his jacket pocket probably holding a gun or another kind of weapon. Whatever it was it definitely intimidated the older men. _

_Shawn took another look around checking for accomplices before he slowly walked closer to the three men cautious not to draw the thug's attention. He was close enough to listen in on the discussion. _

"_Give me the keys now or I'll shoot you right here right now." The thug demanded._

"_No. You won't shoot us here. There are cameras all over this place and you probably wouldn't get further than a few miles especially with a car like a Bentley. There is only this one exemplar within the next few hundred miles." One of the men concluded._

"_I don't care. I want this car and I don't care if you have to die in the process. Last chance to give me the keys." He demanded for the second time._

_Shawn was close enough to act now so he took his helmet and slammed it into the thug's head from behind, making him tumble to the ground while his gun flew out of his pocket and out of reach. He recovered quicker than Shawn thought and lunged at him. Shawn was pressed up against the gas pump and took a punch in the stomach. He managed to get some room between the other man and himself and brought his fist up to connect with the thug's cheek sending him to the floor once again. But his attacker was quick and before he could do anything else the thug rammed his shoulders into Shawn's stomach and shoved him against the gas pump again. Shawn let out a groan when his back hit the solid material with force but the thug didn't give him another to second to react instead he grabbed Shawn by his collar lifted him up and threw him to the concrete floor. Shawn felt something poking in his back when he landed on the ground and a thought hit him. The gun. He landed right on the gun. He took it in his right hand and held it behind his back. Looking over to the car he saw that the thug had pulled out a knife and threatened the two older men again. Shawn got up pointing the gun directly at him._

"_Drop the knife, now." He said in a loudly. The thug was startled by the loud voice. It was like everything was moving in slow motion. The thug realized that he couldn't get away and raised the hand with the knife ready to plunge it into the old man in front of him._

_Shawn saw this and took only a split second before he fired the gun sending the bullet straight into the thug's left shoulder. The shot thug dropped instantly the knife in his right hand to clutch it on his wound. _

"_On the ground. Hands on your head." Shawn demanded. The thug followed reluctantly wincing in pain when he moved his left arm. _

_Shawn still pointed the gun to the thug while his look shifted to the two men. _

"_Could anyone of you call the police, please?" He asked in a steady voice._

_They did as he told them and two hours later their statements were taken and the thug was in custody. _

_Shawn was about to mount his Norton again when one of the men came to him. "Excuse me, Mr. …" _

"_Spencer. What's up?" He answered nonchalantly reaching out his hand._

_The man shook it. "My name is Theodore Brooks. I'm Mr. Riley's butler and he sent me over to invite you to dinner this evening at his mansion in order to thank you."_

"_Uh, thanks I guess, but I'm actually just passing through." Shawn shrugged not knowing what to do._

"_Be our guest. You could stay the night if you can't find another place to stay tonight." The butler suggested and Shawn finally agreed on having dinner with Mr. Riley. Little did he know that he wouldn't leave Denver for another three years._

_~End of flashback~_

The two men both smiled at the memory.

"I still owe you for saving my life, kid. That was one hell of a shot." He looked proudly at the younger man sitting next to his bed. "It's good to have you back!"

Shawn's smile grew even wider. "Thank you, Mike. It's good to be back. Felt like finally coming home."

They talked a little more until a nurse stepped into the room announcing that visiting hours were over. Shawn stood up from his chair and bent over Mikes figure to engulf him into a hug.

Touched by this unexpected move Mike whispered into Shawn's ear. "You know I came to think of you as the son I never was lucky enough to have. I'm really proud of you and the things you achieved so far."

Shawn had to swallow the lump that had built up in his throat before he replied. "And I've come to think of you like a second dad."

Mike patted Shawn's back before letting go and they did their secret handshake one more time.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning, okay?" Shawn asked.

"Of course, kid." Mike smiled at him.

**In Santa Barbara…**

Juliet entered her dark apartment. She was exhausted even though nothing really happened all day (besides Shawn skipping town abruptly). She was looking forward to his call the next day since as she realized a few hours prior she really missed having him around and hearing his voice. She hadn't felt as happy as this morning when she woke up in his bed in a long time. As she thought about it she hadn't felt so happy at any point of her relationship with Declan. Of course he had made her feel special, buying her gifts and taking her on trips to Europe but that was about it. She never got past the point of just crushing on him. Maybe he was more like a diversion for her.

Later that night she came to the conclusion that it was a good thing that the relationship had come to an end, even though it wasn't a pleasant one. But it had helped her to come to terms with her feelings for Shawn: she couldn't and didn't want to live without him. With that in mind she drifted off to sleep.

**In Denver…**

After taking a cab from the hospital to the Riley mansion, Shawn had been happily greeted by a brunette woman and a young blonde girl.

"Uncle Shawn, you're back. I missed you so much." The girl shouted, running up to him and jumping into his outstretched arms.

"I missed you, too, little princess." He said while picking her up from the ground and whirling her through the air which earned him excited screams from the little girl.

"Shawn, be careful." The brunette woman tried to calm the two of them down. "We don't want to go straight back to the hospital, do we?"

Shawn set the girl down and they both looked at each other before turning to the woman with a pout on their face. "But Kaaaaaaaate… I haven't seen in her in soooo long." He said.

They earned a stern look from Kate and stopped immediately. "Ashley, I told you you could stay up until Uncle Shawn comes home but you really need to go to bed now. It's late and you've got school tomorrow."

"Okay." Ashley sighed. "Can Uncle Shawn tug me in?"

"Of course I'll do that. Come on let's go." He said enthusiastically and gave Kate a quick hug before he bent down offering his back for a piggy back ride. Ashley hopped on and they ran through the house until they reached her room. Kate could only shake her head in amusement.

Half an hour Shawn walked down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen where Kate was sitting at the counter waiting for him.

"Hey, stranger." She smiled and motioned to the stool next to her.

"Hey, yourself." He smiled back at her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. "She has grown quite a bit."

"Yeah well that tends to happen, Shawn." She mused. "The last time you've seen her was three years ago and she was 5."

"I know. I feel so bad for not coming by more often. I really miss you guys. How are you holding up?" He asked, his voice filled with concern.

She hesitated for a moment. "It's like… history repeats itself. Like this giant nightmare that just won't go away."

Shawn nodded. "How's your dad dealing with it?"

"You know him. He's putting on a brave face but I can see right through it. He's really sad. Who can blame him? He's not only losing his boss but also a life long friend." She said in a small voice. "We already lost a person we love to this damn disease. How are we supposed to go through this kind of pain again?" A single tear made its way down her cheek.

Shawn stood up and pulled her into a hug, his hands drawing circles on her back. "This time I'm here to help you through it. I'll stay as long as you need me. I promise." He whispered into her ear.

"But you'll have to go back to Santa Barbara eventually. Your life is back there."

"But this is my home. You and your dad and Ashley and Mike are the closest I ever had to a real family. That's the only thing that counts for me right now."

They stayed like that for another minute before Kate pulled back and planted a light kiss on his cheek. She looked intently at him. "Now tell me what happened to you. You're not the same Shawn Spencer that I knew when you left five years ago."

He winced slightly at her remark. No, he wasn't the same Shawn he was when he left this place. They sure had some catching up to do. Kate took his hand and pulled him with her to the couch in front of the fire place in the nearby living room.

**_A/N: _Reviews are welcome as always. I'm going to bed now and hope to wake up tomorrow and find a whole bunch of new reviews! ;) :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9_  
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**Four weeks later in Denver…**

The last four weeks seemed like a blur to Shawn. Everything had happened so quickly. The hospital had called in the middle of Shawn's first night back in Denver to tell them that Mike Riley had died. They had rushed to the hospital to see him one last time and say their goodbyes. Kate, Shawn and Theodore had cried in each others arms all night long. Even though they knew that Mike's life was coming closer to an end they couldn't wrap themselves around the fact that it happened so fast.

The next morning Kate had called Ashley's school and informed them that she wouldn't come today. She and Shawn had quietly sat down with the little girl and told her how her grandpa's best friend had joined her daddy in heaven.

She had looked at them in tears. "But he's not feeling any pain anymore, right? And daddy isn't alone anymore and he'll look after him. They can talk and play cards together."

Shawn still couldn't believe how this 8 year old girl had made both of the grown ups speechless. She was right. Mike wasn't in pain anymore and he hadn't had to suffer too long. And if there really was a heaven up there he would be united with his best friend's son in law who had died of cancer 3 years ago.

The funeral was five days later. It was only a small ceremony since Mike was never really a man of many friends and he didn't have an own family either. When the ceremony was over, a small group of people stayed behind standing in front of his grave. Theodore had his left arm wrapped around his daughter's shoulder while she was holding hands with Shawn. None of them was able to hold back their tears at the sight of the marble tombstone.

The opening of the will had taken place the day after. Mike had stated in his will that one quarter of his fortune would go to Theodore and one quarter to Kate while the rest of his money as well as his company and all of his other properties and belongings would go to Shawn.

Not once in this one week he had bothered calling his dad or Gus or Juliet. He had just shut his phone off and never turned it back on.

In the following week he was crushed by a wave of grief. He tried to numb it by drinking, which only caused him the worst hangover in his entire life. Then he started working out like a maniac. He spent most of his day in the gym in the basement of the mansion that now belonged to him. He barely slept and ate. Only the constant rush of his pulse seemed to help him through the first two weeks without Mike.

The third week after the death of Mike meant going back to business as usual. The attorneys of the Riley Hotel group had called him to take part in a board meeting to discuss the future development of the company. Shawn had followed their wish reluctantly and was now officially the head of the company.

Shawn had finally sent an email to Gus, Juliet and his dad stating he was okay. He still couldn't get himself to call them. He knew that they would want to know what had happened and he wasn't ready to talk about it. He wasn't ready to relive this whole nightmare.

In the fourth week Shawn finally calmed down a little. His mood became lighter again and everyone in the house was glad to see a glimpse of the real Shawn.

**In Santa Barbara…**

To say that Juliet O'Hara was pissed was the understatement of the year. She was way beyond the point of simply being pissed by now. Four weeks and all she got was an email.

'I'm ok. Don't worry.' She snorted when she saw the words on the computer screen again. And no word from Shawn since then.

In the first two weeks after he basically bolted she had been worried sick, especially when he hadn't called her even though he had promised the day before. Gus and Henry had tried to calm her down. Both of them had experienced Shawn's behavior before and knew that he'd come around eventually.

Worry was followed by disappointment. Declan had called her a few times telling her he was sorry and wanted to get back together. She needed her best friend Shawn more than anything at that time and he wasn't there to help her. He broke his promise again.

When the email finally came she almost couldn't contain herself. That was the one day she had beaten Lassiter at the shooting range to blow of some steam.

It didn't help her mood at all that the Chief had called the FBI to take over the Rose Murderer case since she didn't get anywhere with it.

She had stopped by his apartment once a week to see if he had come back. But he hadn't come back. In the third week she had peered through a window and found herself shocked when she realized that all of his stuff was missing and there was a 'to let' sign taped to his door. Where were all of his things and who moved them?

Finally after three and a half weeks she had tracked Shawn's cell phone. It had popped up in Denver. So he didn't go anywhere else. There weren't any calls getting in or out but it was on which had to mean that he had to charge it once in a while which meant that he was still alive.

**In Denver…**

Juliet only took a split second to decide to follow him when she had found out where he was. Three days later she had checked into her hotel in Denver and was sitting in a rental car in front of the house where Shawn's phone signal came from. 'House' was an understatement though. It was huge with an enormous garden and even a swimming pool in the backyard as far as she could tell. She got out of her car and walked around the premise in order to get a glance at the situation.

Rounding a corner she finally found a spot with a good view, but when she looked through the fence she felt like her heart stopped for a second. There was Shawn Spencer (a very much alive Shawn Spencer) chasing a little blonde girl around the garden. Both of them were laughing loudly and the girl screamed in delight when Shawn picked her up and whirled her through the air. Then a brunette woman stepped out on the porch and called out to them. "Lunch is ready. Get in the house you two."

Shawn and the girl stopped in their tracks. "Better listen to mommy before she gets mad." Shawn told the girl and they raced back to the house. Juliet felt like someone had punched her flat in the stomach when Shawn gave the brunette woman a brief kiss on the cheek before he slung his arm around her waist and they stepped back into the house.

What the hell was going on?

She decided to head back to the hotel and take a shower and eat something before facing him.

**Two hours later**

Kate was sitting in the living room eyeing her daughter while she was doing her homework. Shawn had to go back to a business meeting and she was sipping on her coffee absentmindedly when the door bell rang.

"I'll get it, Ash." She exclaimed when she got up.

She went to the intercom and answered it. "Who's there?"

"Juliet O'Hara. I'd like to talk to Shawn Spencer." A female voice said.

Kate looked at the video monitor and was startled for a moment. Juliet O'Hara? Was that Shawn's Juliet? She hesitated for a moment. "He's not home right now but you can come in and wait. It shouldn't take too long before he comes home."

"Okay." Juliet swallowed hard. Home. This wasn't his home. His home was back in Santa Barbara. Right?

The huge iron gate opened and Juliet stepped inside. Kate opened the front door when she came closer.

"Welcome. I'm Kate Brooks." She stretched out her hand and Juliet shook it. "Come on in. Do you want a coffee or anything else to drink? Have you had lunch yet?"

"Coffee would be nice. You've got a beautiful house." She said while they walked through the entrance hall into the kitchen.

"It isn't mine actually. But I've lived here my whole life with my dad. He works for the owner. Well worked." She added with sadness in her eyes. "Shawn lets us stay here anyway."

"Wait. Are you telling me that this is Shawn's house?" Juliet asked in disbelief.

"Yes it is. Sugar or milk?" Kate asked if it didn't mean anything that Shawn owned a huge mansion.

"Uh… both." She answered irritated. "Are you sure we're talking about the same person here?"

"Yup, pretty sure. He talks about you a lot." Kate mused. "Oh. This is my daughter Ashley by the way." She motioned to the blonde girl sitting in the living room. "Shawn's great with her. But you'll see that later."

Juliet swallowed. Who exactly was this woman? Shawn's girlfriend? And was that Shawn's daughter?

"So you're a cop, right?" Kate asked when Juliet didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I'm a junior detective." Juliet answered in small voice. She looked at the woman in front of her. She was a little taller than Juliet, had long brown hair with natural curls that she wore open. Her figure was slender yet she had muscles in all the right places making her look athletic. With her beautiful face and perfect curves you could have mistaken her for a model.

"What do you do for a living?"

"I worked as a model during and after high school for a few years until I got pregnant and then I went to college and studied tourism and event management and worked for a big company since then." She smiled.

Juliet was about to answer when they heard a voice from the entrance hall.

"Honey, I'm hoooooome." Shawn's voice and his typical chuckle echoed through the house.

"Wow, sounds just like in one of those corny chick flicks when the husband comes home after a long day at work."

Ashley jumped up and ran straight into his arms when he reached the door to the kitchen.

"Hey, little princess. Have you finished your homework yet?" She nodded eagerly.

"Kate, I think your dad finally gave up calling me Mr. Spencer but…" he trailed off when his eyes landed on the woman sitting next to Kate.

"Jules?" His voice was barely above a whisper now.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_

They stared at each other in disbelief. Shawn didn't believe that she was standing in front of him. Juliet on the other hand was too shocked by his appearance. He wore a black business suit with golden cufflinks and a nay blue tie that brought out his eyes perfectly. His hair was in his typical perfect form and he was cleanly shaven.

Kate looked from Shawn to Juliet and decided quickly that it may be better to go. She took Ashley's hand and they left the kitchen silently.

Shawn and Juliet stood there for another minute before Shawn took a step forward. "Jules…"

But before he could say anything else he felt Juliet's hand connect with his left cheek. He was pretty sure that you could've heard the smacking sound for at least a mile. He brought up his hand to cover his burning cheek and look bewildered at the small woman in front of him.

"Jules, please…" He started again and this time he was quick enough to catch her hand before she could slap his other cheek. He had gotten a hold on her left wrist and held it tightly.

She tried to free her hand but couldn't get it out of his firm grip. He took her other hand and held it tightly as well and shoved her back against the fridge, pressing his body against hers to prevent her from moving away while holding her arms above her head. She winced when her back hit the cold material.

"Jules, can we please talk about this?" He asked.

"Don't you dare to call me that." She hissed. "You lost that right about two weeks ago."

He closed his eyes for a second taking in what she had just said.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry? That's all you can come up with? I get a freaking email and 'I'm sorry'? After nearly a month. I hope you give me a very good explanation for all of this in the next ten seconds or I'm walking away from you for good." She said looking directly into his eyes leaving no doubt that she was dead serious.

"Jules…"

"Don't call me that." She said again.

She looked at him expectantly but he didn't say anything.

"Goodbye, Shawn." She finally freed her arms and shoved him away from her, making her way to the door. Before she reached it she turned around again with tears in her eyes.

"I was scared, Shawn. I thought something happened to you." Her voice was shaking by now and she was clearly on the edge of crying. "I thought you were dead. And now I see you playing house with your girlfriend? I. thought. you. were. _dead_." She repeated emphasizing every word while tears where streaming down her cheeks. "You promised me you'd be there when I need you. Guess what. I needed you more than anything else and you weren't there. You broke your promise." Her eyes had lost the usual playful sparkle and were cold as ice when she spoke. "Don't even think about coming back. Because as of now our friendship is over and you _are _dead to me!" After one last glare she turned on her heels and stormed out of the door.

**A/N: So yeah... sorry for the cliffhanger but it was just too tempting to stop at this point :D  
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	11. Chapter 11

**EDIT: I'm sorry for the mix up! The correct ninth chapter is up now. Thanks to mariaxlove for pointing it out! I think the story makes more sense now ;)_  
><em>**

**_Chapter 11_**

Shawn didn't understand what just had happened. For the second time within a month it felt like his world broke apart in front of him. He stood there unable to move or to think straight. Only one clear thought was forming in his head: go after her. So he ran. He sprinted through the entrance hall finally reaching the front door. He stepped outside and let his eyes screen the area for any signs of her. Then he saw her. She was about to open her car door on the other side of the street.

"JULIET! WAIT! PLEASE JUST WAIT!" He screamed and ran in her direction.

She didn't even flinch at the sound of his voice and quickly sat down in her car starting the engine. But it was too late he had reached her car and stood in front of it and laid both of his hands on the hood. Juliet took a quick glance over her shoulder. She parked close to another car and there was no other way than driving forward. And that wasn't really an option either since Shawn blocked the way. She let out a frustrated groan and let her head sink on top of the steering wheel.

Shawn carefully eyed her. Was this just a trick to get him to move away? But then he saw how her shoulders twitched lightly when she finally had lost the fight against her sobs.

He rounded the car quickly and opened her door. Without thinking he pulled her out of the car and held her in a tight hug murmuring comforting words into her ear.

After a few minutes of uncontrollable crying Juliet fought for her composure. She pushed Shawn slightly away to bring some room between them. He cupped her cheek with his hand and forced her to look at him.

"Let go, Shawn." She whispered.

"Don't say that, Jules. Just don't say that. I don't want to let go." He whispered back.

"You have to. You had your chance. Just let go. I'll be okay." She assured him.

His look hardened. "No. I want to explain everything to you. I just need more time than 10 seconds, okay? There's just so much we need to talk about. Please, hear me out, Jules. If you decide to leave afterwards I won't stop you. But hear me out first. That's all I ask for." She looked up to his eyes while he spoke and she could see a mix of desperation and decisiveness.

She took a minute to decide. "No. You hurt me, Shawn. After all the pain I went through with my break up with Declan you managed to hurt me even worse. It's better if we leave everything behind us. I don't want to see you again, Shawn." She said, this time she managed to hold her tears back and talk in a steady voice.

"Jules… please don't do this to me. I know I hurt you and I'm sorry for that. I never meant to do it but it happened and I'm sorry." He pleaded.

"Saying sorry won't make this okay."

"I know… just give me time to explain." His voice was full of desperation.

Juliet couldn't stand looking into his pleading eyes anymore and turned her head away from him.

"Let's just talk. No more sneaking around, no more keeping quiet, no more lies. Stay for dinner. We can talk before and during and afterwards. We can talk the whole night. I don't care how long it will take. Just the two of us. Please, Jules. I just need this one last chance."

Juliet turned her head again to face him. Shawn was shocked to see that the coldness was back in her eyes. "Just the two of us…right… and what about your daughter and your girlfriend?" She asked bitterly.

"What are you… wait you think…? No, Jules, you got it all wrong. Kate isn't my girlfriend. And Ashley is certainly not my daughter. I'm her godfather and Kate is like a little sister to me." His eyes found hers again and he could see that some of the coldness had vanished.

He held out his hand. "Come on, Jules." He smiled softly at her.

Juliet glanced from his face to his hand, then shook her head a little and turned around to her car. Shawn's smile faded instantly. He had messed it up for good.

Juliet glanced back when she heard him sigh. What she saw in front of her broke her heart. This wasn't the cheerful young man that had a playful and witty remark on his lips all the time, no, this was a broken man. He had closed his eyes and his head had slumped down on his chest in defeat.

He was sure he had lost her when she had turned back to her car. He had let out a frustrated sigh before closing his eyes. This couldn't happen. Not now. Hell, not ever. He didn't want to live without having Juliet in his life. In these few seconds he realized that he would give up everything… his new job as CEO of an international hotel chain, the money, the cars, _everything_, he'd leave everything behind just to be with her for one more day. Then he heard the car door being shut and he winced. It was over. He had really messed it up.

**A/N: yup, Shawn, I gave you the opportunity to talk to her earlier... **

**Soo I'm actually done writing this story so I'll probably update the story twice a day from now on until everything is online...**

**Thanks for the reviews! **


	12. Chapter 12

**_Next chapter! _**

**_Please note that I posted the wrong ninth chapter yesterday. I fixed it today so you should read that one first so you don't get confused! Sorry for the mix up.  
><em>**

_**Chapter 12**_

Then he felt a gentle touch on his arm and heard her soft voice. "One last chance, Shawn. That's it."

He didn't dare to open his eyes fearing that he was only dreaming. But then he felt her petite hand cupping his cheek and he dared to open his eyes a little to see that she was still standing in front of him. Happy that she decided to stay he engulfed her into a bone crushing hug. When they parted he took her hand and led her back to the house.

When they reached the kitchen he reluctantly let go of her hand. "So…uh maybe we should sit down this could take a while." He motioned to the couch in the living room. "You want to drink something?"

"A water, please." She said while sitting down on the couch.

A few seconds later Shawn returned with two glasses of water and handed her one.

"How about we just cut the point? What happened, Shawn?" She asked looking intently at him.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning." He sighed not sure how to explain everything to her. "Eight years ago I was still traveling around the country. I was at a gas station on the outskirts of Denver when I saw a man threatening two older men. He wanted their car and they refused to give it to him. I snuck up behind the thug, knocked him over, we got into a fight. Long story short: I shot him in the arm and the police took him into custody. Turned out that the men I helped were Mike Riley and his butler Theodore Brooks. I was invited to dinner as an acknowledgment of Mike's gratitude. We talked over dinner and he asked me what I was up to. I told him that I was traveling around and kind of between jobs and he offered me to stay here for a while and that he could give me a job at one of his hotels. I was really low on money at the time and it seemed like a good opportunity so I stayed. I started out as a member of the housekeeping staff at his hotel here in Denver and worked my way up the job ladder. After a good one and a half year he asked me to become a member of a sort of think tank that was supposed to help reorganize and modernize the company. He wanted his hotels to appeal to a younger target group and I had some good ideas since I've seen so many different hotels and motels on my travels. He liked my ideas and made me his personal assistant. We were a great team." He smiled at the memories that flashed before his eyes.

"How long did you stay?" Juliet asked.

"Three years." He said in a small voice.

"Why did you leave? It seems like you liked living here."

He hesitated for a moment. "I loved this place. For the first time in a long time it felt like I had a home to come back to. But… things happened. You know that Theodore is Kate's father, right? So she grew up here. Mike paid for her education and introduced her to some important people of the fashion world when she started out as a model. She met this guy, James, at a fashion show. They immediately hit it off, they married and one year after they met she gave birth to Ashley. That was one month after I arrived here. They kept living here and we were like a big family. Then James was diagnosed with cancer. It didn't look good from the very beginning because it already spread from his lungs to his liver and his kidneys. He tried everything, you know. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, he was put on a trial for a new medicine that could cure cancer in the future. Nothing helped. He died after one year of fighting against this damn disease." Shawn swallowed hard.

"We were all devastated. He did _everything_ to prolong the time he had left with his family. And in the end all his fighting was for nothing and he lost." He was holding back his tears now. Juliet reached over to lay her hand above his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I couldn't stay afterwards. I couldn't stand staying here, living with the pain. So I did what I was best at: I bailed. This whole thing triggered something in my mind I guess. I realized how short life could be and that even though you should make the most of it you should always remember where you come from, so I went back to Santa Barbara and I guess you know the rest of the story."

Juliet nodded slowly. "Why did you come back now?"

"Teddy called. He said Mike was rushed into the hospital because his condition got worse. He was diagnosed with cancer two years ago but he was treated and everything seemed fine. But it was back again and worse than before. I visited him in the hospital and we spent the whole day talking and laughing. Just like old times. We got the call the same night. He died of multiple organ failure. His body just couldn't take it anymore." He took a deep breath before continuing. "He left me basically everything. His houses, his company, his money. He gave Kate and Teddy parts of his fortune as well. He always cared deeply for them and wanted them to have a good life."

"Why didn't you just call and explain this to us. We were so worried, Shawn."

"I just wanted to forget. I tried to shut myself off and forget the world around me and everything that had happened. I thought it would be easier to not talk to anyone. I didn't realize that I would hurt you. I didn't really care about anything or anyone around me at first. I was _so_ selfish, Jules. I'm so, so deeply sorry for treating you like this. You don't deserve this." He said in a low voice, looking to the floor not daring to look into her eyes.

"And then when I was finally ready to move on everyone expected me to lead the company. I didn't know a thing about managing an international company, so how was I supposed to just do it? I had to catch up on a lot of work and found my self working 24/7. I just didn't have the time and nerve to contact one of you. But in the past few days everything calmed down a little and I finally have some free time." He finished. "I think that's about it."

"Where is your stuff? I stopped by your apartment once in a while and all your stuff is gone. Are you moving here entirely?"

"Oh right I forgot. No, I'm not moving here. I'm prepping everything so I can manage the company from Santa Barbara. We have a hotel there and all the stuff from my apartment was moved into the penthouse suite. Apparently the managing board didn't think it was suitable that the boss of a multi billion dollar company lived in an old dry cleaner's salon." He winked at her.

"Wait, did you say multi _billion_?" She asked her eyes wide in shock.

"Uh yeah. Well so I've been told. I don't even really know what we are doing. I just sign the papers they give me." He chuckled.

Juliet just shook her head in amusement and they fell into silence. Shawn glanced at his watch.

"Are you hungry, too? Because I'm like _starving_." He smiled at her.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well I never really order in because Rosa normally cooks for us. She's our cook and the good soul of the house. But she has the day off. So either I cook or we try out a random pizza service."

"As much as I would enjoy seeing you in an apron again, I think I'll go with the pizza service." She shot him a devilish smile.

He clapped his hands together and sat up. "Alright pizza it is. I'll order quickly. How about I show you around the house while we wait and we talk afterwards again?" He shot her his trademark smile and offered her a hand.

She took it and he lifted her up from the couch. They headed to the kitchen and Shawn ordered the pizza.

"Okay, our dinner will be here in 30 minutes so I guess we better get started with the house tour." He said and offered her his arm. She linked her arm with him and they started their tour in the kitchen. The kitchen was followed by the living room and the entertainment room with a big screen and a popcorn machine. Then they went to the basement to see the spa area with an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, sauna and massage tables and the gym in the next room. Then they went up the chairs to see one of the five guest rooms and Ashley's playroom.

After that they went down again and headed to the garden. There was one section with a playing area for Ashley and a basketball court. Then there was the guest house in the very back of the garden and the swimming pool with another hot tub and a pool house attached to the terrace.

"Wow. This house and the garden… this is just amazing." Juliet breathed out still slightly taken aback. "Where is your room?"

"What kind of question is that, Detective O'Hara?" He playfully raised an eyebrow.

She just sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm living in the guest house. I loved living there when I first came here and I still love it." He smiled. "I think I heard the door bell. Must be our pizza. We can go to the guest house to eat if you want." He suggested.

Five minutes later they sat down on the couch in the guest house with their pizza (one half pineapples, the other half tuna). Shawn had taken off his jacket and tie in the meantime and had rolled up his sleeves. They kept themselves busy with small talk and Shawn went through a fit of laughter and nearly choked on his pizza when Juliet mimicked Lassiter's latest outburst at a crime scene.

After they had put their empty pizza boxes away Shawn went to the kitchen to grab two bottles of water and handed her one when he sat back down on the couch.

"So Jules, what have you been up to?" She recognized that the playful tone in his voice had been replaced with a more serious one.

She hesitated which of course didn't go unnoticed by Shawn.

"Jules?"

"Uhm things have been kind of rough at the job. Carlton is grumpier than usual and the Chief took the Rose Murderer case from me and handed it over to the FBI."

"What? Why would she do that? You only had a couple of weeks to work on this case while those douche bags had 10 years and couldn't come up with a single solid lead." He exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah well I couldn't do anything about it." She fell silent again.

"Jules, there's clearly something else bothering you. What's wrong? You can tell me everything." He assured her when he saw her hesitation.

"I uh kind of talked to Declan again." She said her voice barely over a whisper. She looked up to Shawn's face to see it harden, his eyes narrowing her.

"Any particular reason why you would do that?" His voice was filled with bitterness.

Juliet looked at him. Was that jealousy in his eyes? "He called me to apologize. We got to talk a little and he kind of implied that he wanted to get back together."

"And you kindly declined?" Shawn intervened quickly.

"Not exactly. Things might be a little more complicated than I thought."

"What are you talking about, Jules? He went off to Vegas and _married_ a random stripper." He looked at her in disbelief. What the hell was complicated about that? Ditch the sucker and move on.

"I'm kind of…late on my…uh…period." She blushed a little.

"Oh-kay… what exactly is your conception of late?"

"Two weeks." She didn't look at him when she mumbled her answer.

"Two _weeks_? As in 14 days?" Shawn's eyes grew wide.

She only nodded in response still not looking to the floor.

"Wow. So that means…" He didn't dare to say out loud.

"That means I could be pregnant."

**A/N: Reviews are welcome as always! (:**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimers: I don't own Psych or The Mentalist!**

**Sooo is our dear Juliet pregnant or not? you'll find out in this chapter! Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 13**_

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Why was Juliet so anxious of his reaction?

Shawn finally spoke up. "Did you take a test yet?" His voice was blank. There were no emotions at all in his tone.

She shook her head. "I didn't actually realize that I was this late because of all the stress at work."

"Do you want to take a test?"

"I need to eventually, don't I?"

"Well in that case take one now." Shawn suggested.

"And how am I supposed to do this? I don't assume that you have a pregnancy test here." She said confused.

"No, of course I don't, but there's a drug store not far from here. I mean you don't have to do it but I guess you'd feel more comfortable if you knew, right?"

"I'm scared, Shawn. What if it comes up positive? What if I am pregnant?"

"Only one way to find out. Jules, I know I haven't been the greatest friend lately but you know that I'll be right at your side when you need me. Ask Ashley, I'm the best Uncle Shawn ever. If you are pregnant you know that I'll do everything to help you."

Juliet nodded slowly with a grateful smile playing around her lips before she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. "Alright. Let's do it." She said and got up from the couch.

20 minutes later they were back in the guest house with three different pregnancy tests. Juliet took them all with her to the bathroom while Shawn got a beer from the fridge.

What if she was pregnant? With Declan's child. He felt nauseous just thinking about a boy with black slicked back hair running around the police station in an expensive mini version of an Armani suit calling for his mommy. He quickly pushed that distressing thought away when Juliet entered the room again.

"Jules, how long are you staying here in Denver?" He asked trying to sound nonchalantly but failed miserably.

"I've got a week off." She smiled. "Chief calls it compensatory time off." She mused.

"Well I guess if you intent on staying for another 6 days we can fly back to Santa Barbara together. I think by then everything should be ready for me to move."

"That would be nice."

There was a moment of silence.

"Do you think I should tell Declan?"

_Way to beat around the bush._ Shawn thought to himself and sighed.

"Let's just wait and see what the tests say first, okay?" He smiled reassuringly at her.

They sat for another few minutes in silence until Juliet got up.

"15 minutes are over." She was nervous as hell. "Come with me?" She held out her hand and he let his slide into hers gladly. They walked over to the bathroom where she had left the tests in the sink.

Shawn could feel her hand trembling in his so he stroked his thumb softly across the back of her hand.

Just when they reached the sink Juliet turned around and wanted to go. "I can't do this." She whispered tears dwelling up in her eyes. "What if I really am pregnant? How am I supposed to tell my parents about this? What about my career? Oh my God, I can't do this."

Shawn held onto her hand and pulled to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "Come on, Jules, I'm right here with you. You can do this."

"Can you look at the tests, please?" She asked placing her chin on his chest and looking up to him.

He nodded in response and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. Then he freed one arm and looked at the first test.

Juliet could feel his heartbeat quicken underneath her cheek that was still pressed against his chest and she absentmindedly held her breath. Shawn looked at the other tests and turned back to her.

"Negative." He breathed out visibly relieved and tightened the hug on her.

Juliet felt like all the pressure had been lifted off of her. She melted into the hug and never wanted to let go of the man in front of her again.

They stood like this for a while until Juliet felt herself being lifted up. Without protesting she let him carry her to the couch and place her at one end while he went to kitchen coming back with two bottles of beer in his hands and sitting down at the other end. He turned on the TV and they watched an old episode of The Mentalist. It wasn't really interesting until one phrase caught Juliet's attention. "There is no such thing as psychics."

**A/N: ****whoooops... **

**I know that this was really short but there are actually only two chapters left until this story is finished. The next one will be super long though, longest chapter in this story! **

**But I would love to read some more reviews before I update tomorrow, k? **


	14. Chapter 14

**so we're slowly coming to an end... please note that clitoria stipularis is a PLANT :D I don't want you to be as confused as a certain character in this story ;) Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 14**_

"Shawn?" She asked quietly, turning her head away from the screen to face him. "Are _you_ really a psychic?"

He closed his eyes. He knew that this conversation had have to come sooner or later but after everything that happened today and in the last weeks he wasn't too eager to put their friendship in jeopardy once again.

He slowly opened his eyes again. "No, I'm not." He whispered.

"So you lied to us… you lied to me all those years?"

"Yes, I did."

"You know if I wasn't too tired I'd get up and slap you again."

"Fair enough. There's always tomorrow." He answered with a half smile.

"Yes there is and believe me I will remember this." She paused for a moment. "But how do you do it then? I mean if you're not psychic."

"I have a photographic memory. Combine that with years of being drilled by your cop father, uninhibited eavesdropping and a _whole_ lot of luck and you'll see how it works. Dad taught me how to read people and to notice important things and how you have to piece everything together to get the whole picture."

"But why did you start this charade in the first place? With the talent and skills you have you would have made a really good detective." He could hear the astonishment in her voice.

He chuckled. _Detective Shawn Spencer. That has absolutely no ring to it. _He thought.

"I called in tips and one day I was told to come by the station. I thought I'd just collect my check and that's it but Lassie had a different idea. He thought I was in on the robberies and was just ratting out my accomplices. He threatened to put me in jail and I panicked. This whole psychic thing was the only thing I could think of so I unraveled some 'secrets' and told everyone about Lassie sleeping with his partner. They let me off the hook in the end and the Chief asked me to help with another case. Then I pressured Gus into opening the Psych office and you know the rest of the story." He ended quietly.

"Wow. I'm not really sure what to say to all of this."

"I'm sorry, Jules. For not telling you sooner and for lying to you this whole time." He said and his eyes showed her just how sincere his apology was.

"You say that a lot lately."

"I know." He looked away. "Are you very mad at me?"

"I don't know, Shawn. I'm glad you told me but on the other hand I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me sooner and I can't shake off the feeling that you don't really trust me. I mean you haven't told me about this." She motioned around. "You didn't tell me about being a fake psychic. When I think of it I basically know nothing about your life before we met 4 years ago. I just don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it."

"Jules, I know you probably don't want to hear this again but I can't put into words how sorry I am for all of this. I'd do anything to make it up to you, really anything. And I do trust you! I trust you more than anyone else." He moved forward on the couch to sit in front of her and grab her hands.

She looked down at their entwined fingers and felt a wave of contentment and relief wash over her body. She stroked the back of his hand lightly with her thumb.

"How about we put this behind us for now and in order to redeem yourself you'll give me….huh… let's say… three wishes?" She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Oh-kay, I guess. So you've got three wishes and no matter what it is I'll do it or get it for you? Sounds like a plan." He smiled back at her.

"Good. How about we watch a movie now?"

During the movie she had moved closer to him leaning her head on his shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her.

Later that night Juliet woke up again. She took a minute to make out where she was and why she was sleeping in Shawn's arms. They had moved a little. Shawn was in a half laying half sitting position at the end of the couch while Juliet was basically lying on top of him. Her head was pressed to his chest and his head was placed lightly on the top of her hair. His arms were protectively draped around her body so she wouldn't fall to the floor. She nudged him a little.

"Shawn, wake up."

But the sound of her voice only made him snuggle deeper into her hair and hold her tighter.

_Wow. Just wow. This feels so amazing. Waking up next to Shawn, cuddling with him. Why can't it be like this forever? _She thought sadly.

"Shawn, at least get up and go to bed or you'll have a stiff neck tomorrow. I'll call a cab to get back to the hotel." She said while poking her finger playfully into his side.

"No, you'll stay." He mumbled close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

They both stood up and Shawn didn't even open his eyes fully while he took her hand and pulled her with him into his bedroom. She didn't protest when he pulled her onto his bed, wrapping the covers around them and holding her tightly against his body.

**The next morning…**

Juliet grumbled a little when she woke up alone again. What's with him and getting out of bed so early? She stretched her tired muscles and exited the bedroom in search for Shawn. She stopped in her tracks when she was about to enter the kitchen area.

Shawn was standing in front of the counter with only a pair of basketball shorts on, drops of sweat running down his bare back. Juliet had do swallow at that sight. He had changed in those 4 weeks. He was more tanned than before and his body looked massier (not in a bad way) because he apparently had worked out quite a bit. Her breath hitched when she took in his muscular shoulders and his well toned torso.

"Morning."

"Oh hey, you're already up. Morning, Jules. I was just about to bring this to you." He said while motioning to the tray with food on it in front of him.

And once again Juliet found it hard to breathe when she looked at his body. His chest seemed broader and his abs were more distinctive now. She cleared her throat.

"Uh… so how about we eat in here?"

"Okay. Let me just grab a shirt." He winked at her and walked past her to the bedroom.

_Oh believe me I don't mind seeing you like this__. Seriously how hot can a guy be? _She thought to herself.

"Oh by the way I had your luggage brought over here." He said while reentering the kitchen.

"What? How?" She asked surprised.

He chuckled. "I own the hotel, Jules. And there's no way you're staying there. You'll stay with me. Waffle?"

"Thank you, Shawn. So what are your plans for today?"

"Well, since it's Saturday I got the day off and thought we could hang here? Maybe hit the gym and relax in the pool? Or I could show you around the area. Whatever you want to do." He suggested before biting into a croissant.

"Sounds good. I haven't worked out in while."

After finishing breakfast they went over to the main house and entered the gym. They spend their morning in the gym doing exercises and enjoying each others company. After they grabbed lunch and showered, Shawn showed her around the neighborhood and the city. They also went to see an ob-gyn to confirm that Juliet in deed wasn't pregnant and she had told them that this kind of delay could be caused by a great deal of stress. She had advised Juliet to lay low for a while. Feeling relieved to hear from a doctor that she wasn't pregnant Shawn had lifted her up and spun her around as soon as they stepped out of the doctor's office, leaving both of them with a small blush on their cheeks.

When they came back to the mansion a few hours later they joined Teddy and Kate on the terrace and talked to them for a while before Juliet excused herself. Shawn shot her a worried glance but she just nodded at him to assure him that she was okay.

She walked over to the guest house. She just needed some time alone. As much as she loved spending time with Shawn again, she couldn't really wrap herself around everything that had happened in the past 24 hours, let alone the past four weeks. It was so easy to drop back into their playful routine despite Shawn's lies and her own personal problems. She sat down on the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

She thought about her friendship with Shawn. Could you even call that a friendship any more? They were more like… well like what? Juliet couldn't find a way to describe her relationship with Shawn. They slept in the same bed, they cuddled like two love birds and she knew him better than she had known any of her actual boyfriends. She had never felt safer or more cared about than while being with him when she was with anyone else either.

And she knew for a fact that she had never had feelings this deep for another man. She couldn't ignore that, could she? But what was she supposed to do? She had no idea if he felt the same way about her. And even if he did, there were still some things between them. She could feel it. This whole thing back in Ellensburg when he just started acting strangely. Why did he do that? He was still doing it, not as extreme as back than but he seemed to keep his distance between them for whatever reason. He didn't seem as joyful as before, no more jokes, no movie references, and no pineapples.

"Hey, there." A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey."

"You want me to leave you alone for some more time?"

"No, it's okay. I actually wanted to get back to you guys in a second." She lied.

"Jules, how long do we know each other? I know that you are lying and it's okay if you want to spend some time alone but you need to tell me."

"Shawn, it _is_ okay that you are here. I don't mind, but could we maybe stay in here and… I don't know… talk some more?"

"Sure." He sat down next to her.

_Just cut to the point. It's like ripping off a band aid. Quick and easy. _Juliet told herself before taking a deep breath.

"Shawn, why did you-…" She was interrupted by a little girl storming in.

"Uncle Shawn, you promised me to play in the pool with me today!" Ashley shouted.

"Right, uh, sweetie could you give us a second? I'll be out in a minute okay?" He tried to calm her down.

"One minute." She warned him playfully and ran out again.

"I'm sorry, Jules. You were about to ask me something?" He turned back to her.

She just shook her head. "It wasn't important. Just go ahead and play with Ashley." She smiled weakly at him trying to avoid his gaze.

"Jules…"

"It's okay. Just go."

Shawn hesitated not sure if he should go. "How about you join us? Come on, Jules it'll be fun." He smiled encouragingly at her.

"Maybe later."

Shawn nodded slowly and got up. "I'm right outside if you need me." He said before bending down and planting a soft kiss on the top of her head.

She sighed when he exited the guest house and jogged up to the main house. And again they had missed a moment. She watched TV for a little while before she got bored and an idea crept through her mind. Why don't tease Shawn a little bit? She knew that he still had his charm but he hadn't really made a move on her like he did in the past, suggesting going on a date or having coffee.

"Let's see if we can bring back some of his old self." She mumbled to herself and got up to change into a bikini. _This should get at least a blush out of him. _She thought, remembering when she had walked in on him only covered by a towel.

She was just walking up to the main house when she stopped in her tracks. She watched the pool for a while, seeing how Shawn played with Ashley, chasing her around the pool. When the girl wanted to splash water onto him he got all defensive all the sudden.

"Not the hair, please don't make my hair wet." He whined trying to protect his hair from the water. "I give up. You win."

Juliet chuckled. Then she caught sight of another man in the garden and an idea popped into her head. _Why not make him jealous? That will definitely catch his attention. _ She thought while walking up to the topless gardener.

"Carlos?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes, Ms O'Hara. How can I help you?" He asked.

"Well you know… actually I thought about making Mr. Spencer a little jealous and maybe you could help me with that."

He smirked. "What do you want me to do?"

She was surprised that he didn't protest or anything but was pleased with it. She could finish her plan now.

"Just act like we're flirting." She said and looked around to see that they could be seen perfectly from the pool area.

"Ready?" She asked quietly and he nodded in response. Then she laughed loudly and slapped his chest lightly. "Oh, Carlos you are _so_ funny!" She let her hand lay on his well toned chest and watched the pool from the corner of her eye to see that Shawn had stopped chasing Ashley abruptly and was looking over to them. "And you are so attractive with all these muscles." She said and moved her hand from his chest to his six-pack.

"Well I do exercise a lot. Wanna feel my biceps?" He asked and held up his flexed muscle. She traced her fingers along his arm making sure that Shawn would see this.

She had to hold back a laugh when she saw that Shawn looked furious by now not even caring that Ashley had just emptied a bucket with water over his precious hair.

"Place your hands on my hips and compliment me." She ordered Carlos in a whisper.

"I must say you look just stunning. I've never seen a woman that looked so sexy before." He said loud enough for Shawn to hear and placed his hands on her hips pulling her a little closer.

"Why thank you, handsome. Maybe we should go out some time." She answered loudly before lowering her voice. "Grab my butt."

He looked unsure about this but she smiled at him encouragingly. She took a step closer to him, tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek while he cupped her butt with both of his hands.

"Later, handsome." She said and turned around to walk over to the pool, her hips swaying seductively with each step.

When she saw Shawn she had to hold back another laugh. He looked like he was ready to explode.

"Where did you find such a handsome gardener? You have to give me his number. Maybe he can help me out with trimming my hedges. I bet his hands would do magic to my Clitoria stipularis." She said while glancing back at Carlos and biting her lip.

Shawn took in a sharp breath. Juliet looked back down at him with an innocent smile tugged on her lips. "Mind if I join you?"

The only answer she got was a low grumble as he turned around and swam away. He had to gather all his will power to not get out of the pool and punch Carlos straight in the face for touching her like that.

_Score! _She thought and made her way over to the steps that led into the pool. They swam silently for about half an hour. The sun was setting by now and it was a beautiful sight. Kate and Ashley had said good night a few minutes ago and Juliet figured this would be a good time to confront him.

"Shawn?" She asked quietly.

"Hm?" His body was turned away from her, his arms leaning on the pool edge.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" She asked and swam over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "What's wrong, Shawn?"

"Nothing." He grumbled. "Could you leave me alone? Kate will give you Carlos' number and you can go have fun with him." His voice was filled with bitterness.

"Are you jealous, Shawn?" If he had turned around he could have seen the triumphant smile playing on her lips.

"No." He said determined before mumbling. "Maybe."

"Well you don't have to worry about anything."

He turned around now. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not the slightest bit interested in Carlos. I just talked him into teasing you a little." She winked at him.

"You're not interested in him?" She shook her head biting her lip. "So you were just playing me?" A small nod was her response.

"Huh." He turned his head away from her acting like he was still pissed when he suddenly lunged himself at her and dunked her quickly, giving her no time to defend herself.

He was laughing loudly when she came up again.

"Never mess with a Spencer!" He warned her playfully, while he was relieved that she wasn't really interested in Carlos.

"Did you just dunk me?" Juliet asked breathlessly.

"Huh? Me? No, I would never do such thing."

"Mark my words, Spencer. You will pay!" She exclaimed and threw herself at him trying to pull him underwater.

They fought for a while until Juliet found herself pressed up against a wall with no way of escaping. Shawn stalked slowly closer, never breaking eye contact for a second. He put his hands on her waist and held her tightly so she couldn't get away.

It felt like they stayed in this position for hours both finding themselves lost in the other's eyes. Juliet moved her body even closer to his until they were pressed up against each other and Shawn's hands found their way to her back. Their faces barely an inch apart.

_I don't even want to think of how it would be to date him__. _That one sentence was what she had said four weeks ago. That one sentence was what snapped him out of his daze and made him jerk away.

He quickly brought two feet of distance between them and shook his head.

"This is a mistake, Jules." He breathed out.

**A/N: **

**I didn't want to make Juliet look like a bitch or anything for randomly flirting with others. I just wanted to bring back some of the humor and teasing between them and as you can see Shawn wasn't really offended ;) **

**Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and will leave a review for me :) **

**the last chapter will be up tomorrow (maybe if you leave a lot of reviews I'll consider posting it tonight)**


	15. Chapter 15

**wow, this is actually it. the last chapter. I really enjoyed writing this and hope you had fun reading it. **

**Disclaimers: Once again I gotta say that I don't own Psych even though I wish I did.**

_Recap: "This is a mistake, Jules." He breathed out._

_**Chapter 15**_

"What?" She looked at him, clearly confused. "Why is this a mistake?"

"I'm not what you want. You said it yourself. You wouldn't want to date me." His eyes were full of bitterness and hurt.

"What are you talking about?"

"That night in the motel. You thought I didn't hear it but I did."

"Didn't hear wh-" Then it dawned on her and she closed her eyes. "Oh my God, please tell me you're not talking about my phone call with Anne." She opened her eyes again, looking directly into his eyes. The hurt and disappointment that she could see in them were enough of an answer.

"No, Shawn, this is just a misunderstanding." She moved closer to him trying to grab his hand but he backed away. "Shawn, _please_."

"It's… okay, Jules. You made your point pretty clear that night."

"Okay, Shawn, I get it, you're mad but I think you owe me so much as to listen to my explanation, don't you think?"

He nodded slowly. She had listened to him yesterday despite everything that happened and it was only fair to give her a chance to explain it. "Yeah, but can we move this to somewhere else? I'm freezing."

"Well I haven't been in a hot tub for a while." She said and swam over to the steps that led out of the pool to head over to the hot tub. Shawn followed her quickly.

When they were seated in the warm water Juliet took Shawn's hand into hers, intertwining their fingers instantly.

"I'm waiting." Shawn said and looked at her expectantly.

"First of: I was drunk. I couldn't really think straight and what I said actually made sense in my head at the time. Secondly." She sighed. "Anne said that she thought about asking you out and I kind of found myself …uh… being kind of…jealous." She ended in a whisper. "I freaked and tried to think of a way how I could stop her from doing it. Making you look bad seemed pretty logical at that moment and so I did it."

She looked up from their intertwined fingers to his face. He had remained silent and looked curiously at her.

"I didn't mean those things, Shawn. I swear I didn't mean any of it. I think you'd make a great boyfriend and I love working with you. You are probably the funniest person I know and you can always make me laugh. You are pretty much perfect the way you are, at least you are to me." She moved her hand up to cup his face and stroked her thumb softly over his cheek. "If I had the choice I wouldn't change a thing about you. You have to believe that, Shawn." She looked pleadingly at him with a hint of desperation in her eyes.

He nodded slowly and her eyes lit up in relief for a second.

"So you said those things about me because you were jealous?" His typical smile was back on his lips and his tone was teasing.

She blushed and looked down. "Yeah." She mumbled.

"Wow, okay and you didn't want me to be different?"

"Never." She whispered finally looking up again to meet his eyes.

"Wow… just wow. I can't believe this. How about you use that spare slap you have from last night? My stupidity and I sure as hell deserve it."

"Uh… what?" She was dumbfounded by his reaction.

"Remember when you said that I seemed like I changed and I denied it? Well I _did_ change. I was really hurt and pissed because of what you said and wanted to prove that you wouldn't like me if I changed." He sighed. "How could I be so stupid?"

"That's why you suddenly changed?" She looked shocked when he nodded his head slightly.

Then she did the only thing she could think of in that moment. She threw herself into his arms and crashed her lips onto his.

He was startled by her sudden move but recovered quickly and kissed her back. She sat down on his lap, her hands gripping his hair, while he had one hand on her cheek and the other one on her waist. Their kiss grew more passionate by the second, only interrupted by small breaks to catch their breaths again. Shawn moaned when she shifted in his lap.

"Jules, we should go back to the guest house." He said breathlessly between kisses.

"We should."

Shawn stood up slowly from his sitting position and Juliet immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. He stepped carefully out of the hot tub and walked or rather stumbled over to the door of the guest house, never breaking contact with Juliet's warm lips. The collapsed on the couch and his hands moved up to untie her bikini top.

Several hours later they were lying in Shawn's bed. Her head was rested on his chest and her arm was wrapped around his abdomen while his hands rested lightly on her back holding her close to him.

"Can I cash in one of those wishes now?" She mumbled into his chest before turning her face to look at him.

"Of course. What is it?" He asked with a content smile tugged on his lips.

"Don't ever change again."

"Never." He whispered back.

"And don't leave me again." Her eyes were pleading.

"I won't do that, Jules."

"What makes you so sure?" She asked.

He hesitated for a second. "Because I love you, Jules, and I don't want to spend another second of my life without you." He said before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

At first she was shocked to hear his confession but the first wave of shock was overcome quickly and a smile spread across her face.

"I love you, too, Shawn." She said before kissing him passionately again.

This time she was sure that he was telling the truth. This time he wouldn't leave. This time he wouldn't break his promise. This time they both knew that he was exactly what she wanted. And nothing and no one could keep them apart now.

_**The End**_

_**A/N: **_**So I hope you're happy with the way I ended this and who knows... there might be a sequel to this. Let's just say I've got some ideas and if you want to read how the two lovebirds go from this point I'll maybe consider to sit down and write again. Just tell me what you think and/or what you would like to see them do in the future. **

**Thank you for reading my story and for reviewing. To my reviewers : You all made me smile a lot in the past week! :)**


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